14 DAY TRIAL // Precisely one week ago, the case of the Chawner family from Blackburn, UK, made international headlines when the four members talked with a celebrity glossy magazine and said they were asking for more government money on the basis that they were too fat to work. The Chawners are now taking back their previous statements, saying that, although weighing 80 stones (approximately half a ton) in between them, they are being discriminated against. People should rush to help them, they uphold, and not hate them for something that is not their fault in the first place.
The Chawners are not fat because they eat too much, they share in an interview with the Daily Mail, contrary to what story might have run in the media these days. In fact, they eat so little it’s a wonder they’re still alive anymore. Moreover, they add, neither of the parents has worked in 11 years and the two girls (19 and 21) have never taken up a job in their entire life not because of lack of trying, but on account of the fact that people hate them. No one wants to hire a fat person, they underline, somehow contradicting their previous statements that they can barely stand for longer periods of time, let alone walk for long distances, or at all.
“They said we got £22,000 a year in benefits, but Mum totted it up and it isn’t quite that much.” Emma, the youngest, says about the report that they were asking for more government money to continue affording their calorie-laden lifestyle. She is not specific about how much they get, though, choosing to play the “I can’t remember” card. “I can’t remember, but it isn’t that much. All the figures were wrong, anyway. They said Dad was 24 stone, but that was rubbish. You are 22 stone, aren’t you Dad?” she explains.
Samantha, the eldest daughter (the Chawners also have a son, who is also overweight but, since he’s no longer living with the family, did not get involved in the scandal) agrees with her sister. The world is a cruel place, she points out with studied melodrama, and it is not ready to accept them as they are. It’s not their fault they’re this fat, it’s in their genes, so people should be rushing to their aid instead of judging and criticizing them for spending their entire day in front of the TV.
“People don’t want to employ large hairdressers, simple as that. They won’t say it to your face, but that’s how it is. I’ve been in salons and done good interviews, but look around and it’s all skinny minnies. We’re discriminated against.” Samantha, who has trained as a hairdresser but has never had a job, tells. “We’re the victims in all of this. It’s not our fault we can’t work. We’ve both applied for hundreds of jobs. It’s not our fault no one wants to employ fat people. Someone should be helping us, not accusing us.” she adds.
In the end, it becomes clear that the Chawners would rather blame their problems on anyone than on themselves. Their doctor, the Government, the media and even Simon Cowell (who shot down Emma’s hopes of becoming “the next Amy Winehouse” on the basis that she had no voice and no obvious talent at all) are all to blame for their current state. Now, the family is talking with several media outlets in the UK for a documentary, and perhaps a reality show that would see them fitted with gastric bands. Whichever direction this takes, the Mail says, it would be a good thing, since a television network paying the Chawners would mean that taxpayers wouldn’t have to.
For the full interview with the obese family that sparked such a heated debate in recent days, go here.