14 DAY TRIAL // Being fat is certainly not reason for discrimination and anyone judging another person solely on account of how much they weigh should perhaps be given a similar treatment with the very first opportunity. Still, what television and the media in general are trying to do now is to promote some sort of positive discrimination, via reality shows meant to present obesity as a disease that not only deserves viewers’ sympathy, but is also acceptable in all respects, Claudia Connell says for the Daily Mail.
Our TV sets are not large enough to contain the countless reality shows centered entirely on fat people, Connell says. All these shows, although with an admirable purpose at first sight, are actually working to promote an image that is as unhealthy as it should be unacceptable, which has it that being morbidly fat is OK because it’ll get you on TV, make you a star. The new trend in terms of reality shows has switched from home decorations and the personal lives of stars to “greedy,” “lazy” fat people who plead for understanding and acceptance – but are too weak to do anything about their condition, Connell believes.
“Now, it’s impossible to turn on the box and not be faced with images of wobbling, dimpled flesh, tearful confessionals and grotesque obesity surgery. […] But as I watch such tales of woe about how fat people just can’t beat this ‘disease,’ I am aware that I am (excuse the pun) helping to feed the lucrative obesity business. […] The real message of these programs is that it’s OK to be life-threateningly overweight – it’ll get you on TV! – and that we should all try to be a bit more understanding and accept obesity as a modern-day ‘addiction’.” Connell argues in a piece for the aforementioned publication.
Yet, as much as overweight-ness and obesity are being “sold” as a disease, the question of why it’s only in modern times that they have reached such alarming rates inevitably pops. How come the have-it-all modern man is plagued by this terrible “disease” and no one can tell that what television is trying to present as an illness is nothing but the old-fashioned lack of self-control and greediness, the author asks. Why should anyone feel any kind of sympathy for a person who, in the end, does this to themselves by stuffing their face with junk food and whatnot? A disease, as Connell points out, is a condition one contracts unwillingly, without getting to have a say in the matter. Being fat is, most often than not, a choice, the author believes.
“The fatty industry is distorting our minds about something we all have the power to control, but choose not to. Marilyn Monroe would turn in her grave if she could hear today’s size 22 teenagers describing themselves as ‘curvy’ – they are blissfully ignorant of the fact that a curve goes in and out, not just out. Because of the culture we live in, where few people are forced to pay for their own failings, obese people know they don’t need to worry about dieting, understanding nutrition or exercising, because the NHS will pay for them to have a gastric band or stomach stapling.” Connell further says, arguing how television has come to shift our perspective on obesity and how we should approach it.