Question:
A question on the effect of the media for the MO..
Hello family. Some of you may remember that last spring I came to you with a question about how being MO has affected your life for a speech I wrote for one of my classes, which I posted on my profile for you all to read. <p> Now, I come to you with another question for a presentation I am doing for a class in Mass Media & Society. The topic is how the media affects MO. Positively/negetively. <p> How do you all feel when you see super skinny models on magazines, billboards, movies, videos, tv shows, etc. Skinny women joking on television that oops, they 'forgot to eat today, but that's ok, I had 3 pieces of popcorn for dinner the night before and have to work it off' type of thing. <p> Does it outrage you that there are no shows that portray a strong obese woman in a staring role in any medium? And as a result, is it of your opinion that the media only hinders and hurts the chances that the MO will finally be accepted and not discriminated against. <p> Were you perhaps ever in your life persuaded to have an alternate view on your apperance (how you 'should' look) and that perhaps led to a depression, or a drastic move on your part, such as annorexia/bulimia? <p> I would love to hear what you all have to say, and perhaps even use a story or instance if I may in my presentation. You needn't answer all those question, one is just fine. If you are uncomfortable posting a reply on this forum, you may email me at: [email protected] <p> It is my intention of this presentation, and my career path at that, to open the eyes of society that mass media affects us in every thing we do, say and even think. I am of the position that we need to change the media's stereotypes of everyone, especially the MO. I really hope you all are willing to give me as much feedback as you wish. Thank you all so much, Annie :) — Annie R. (posted on October 16, 2003)
October 16, 2003
I feel like there is one MO woman in all of tvland ("The
Practice") however, there are numerous MO men that are on TV. . . .
Then there's The Carnie story. Incrediblly talented but dropped when she
gained weight. She says she's having WLS and gets lots of attention
("Look how huge she is" kind of attention). She loses the weight,
in the public eye, has her pastic surgery for all the excess skin and now.
. . . a Playboy contract. . . .Hellooooo!!!. . . .But I really shouldn't be
surprised. . . .look at what we pay our teachers, police and firefighters
and what we pay grown men who play games (baseball, basketball, etc).
— Marrilee M.
October 16, 2003
It really hasn't effected me much. I've always tried not to focus on a
persons appearance...though I must admit that I do enjoy it when I do see a
strong MO woman (or man) protrayed on TV as a winnter. And there is one
right now - Have you ever watched The Practice? Cameron Manheim. Amazing
woman at any size!
— [Deactivated Member]
October 16, 2003
I just wanted to tell you about a show that I watch on the BRAVO channel..
It is called the "Resturant", it has this really good chef
starring in it and his name is Rocco.. Anyway, I won't get into the details
of what the show is about but it is basically a reality TV show about some
guy trying to run a resturant, so it is all real... Well there was this
one part in an episode that made me want to scream... A bunch of plus size
models came into the resturant to eat, they were all dressed pretty and
looked really nice. Well one of the cameras flashed to another table that
is sitting by the girls and all the guys sitting at that table start making
rude comments. One of the comments that stuck out to me was "I didn't
know they made dresses that BIG".... My whole point is that this was
on TV so everyone can watch it and laugh, because of my god there are FAT
girls eating and wearing dresses! I really hate how people treat us, but I
honestly don't think that it is society that teaches us to be a shame, it
all starts with people close to you.. Also, I have noticed over the past 3
yrs that many of my favorite actresses and day time TV actresses are
becoming super skinny, grossly skinny... and I can bet it's because in the
media world if you are a size 5,6,7,8,9,10 you are a fatty...
— baybekmbrly
October 16, 2003
>>>Does it outrage you that there are no shows that portray a
strong obese woman in a staring role in any medium? And as a result, is it
of your opinion that the media only hinders and hurts the chances that the
MO will finally be accepted and not discriminated against.<<<
I think there have been some really good shows that stared MO women. Two I
can think of off hand are Rosanne and the women who played on Drew Carry
show. Both of them are strong funny women. One show I currently watch that
has a MO women in it is Judging Amy. The mother is MO. I agree that most
shows do portray thin women. It doesn't outrage me that there aren't more
MO people on tv. I'm sure the people who are on tv have worked hard to get
where they are.It does however get me very angry when jokes are made at a
MO expense. I don't find it funny to make someone feel bad because they are
bigger. I do think socity is making steps to improve. I notice more and
more that comercials have normal people in them. For instance Queen Latifa
sp? does Cover Girl comercials, and I would say that she is on the heavier
side.
— JessieL
October 16, 2003
WHat MO men are protrayed as successful on TV? I only see one woman and
that is the atty on The Practice. Mimi on Drew carey is portrayed as a
joke. I'm not sure Tyne Daly is MO yet. The only MO man I can recal was
John Goodman and like most men he is the bunmling inept do gooder who had
to rely on his wife. But that's why TV is FANTASY and we live in reality.
— snicklefritz
October 17, 2003
As far as TV and movies go, I could care less if the people are huge or
tiny. What matters is if I am entertained by the story. Remember that
movie with Gweneth Paltrow and Jack Black, about her being fat and him
seeing a super-model thin person? I LOVED IT! It was so funny. But I
hear so many people upset about the way fat people are portrayed in that
(and other) movie. Guess what? We ARE like that. The 'stereo-types' are
usually true. I could completely relate to a lot of what she said and did.
And as far as stong obese people in movies, ummm, can you see an obese
version of batman? Or how about Rambo? It just wouldn't work. I just
think that there are a lot of people who are WAY to sensitive about their
weight. Do something about it if you can and try to change, if not accept
who you are and make the best of your life. Society isnt going to change
because you are offended.
— salymsmommy
October 17, 2003
There have been times when the entertainment industry really makes me
angry. Do you remember the love affair between Ralph Fiennes' character
and Kristin Scott Thomas's in "The English Patient"? Thomas is
*really* skinny. They had a love scene set with her in the bathtub. I
came out of the movie comletely steamed that someone as unattractively thin
as her could be cast in a leading lady role, while you'd virtually *never*
have an equally overweight woman in a similar role--even though most men
would probably find the heavier woman sexier! The poster who said even
slim actresses are being pressured to get *really* thin was right. Look at
Helen Hunt, she looks positively gaunt lately. That rail-thin figure may
look good in clothes, but it sends an unrealistic message to women in
general and especially teenagers, and doesn't even make for an attractive
face in the actress. Look at Maria Shriver, she looks positively bizzarre
lately and I suspect it's more to do with being overly thin than just the
aging process.
— Celia A.
October 17, 2003
HBO is going to be airing a new drama-comedy called "Real Women have
Curves" featuring Latino women. I don't know details but have only
seen the promos running for it. Looks good! Anxious to watch. Good luck
on your project, Annie. :)
— Katherine H.
October 17, 2003
I'm getting pretty sick of Jay Leno's jokes about how fat America is
getting. I'm beginning to feel kind of picked on by the current Bush
administration in their effort to do something about obesity. Yes, it is a
national health epidemic, but they're going about it the wrong way, and
simply tossing facts out there that we've known all along. Why not fund
more research to find a cure? Or make it mandated that insurance in all
states cannot exclude wls? After all we (rightfully) forced insurance to
pay for breast reconstruction for cancer survivors. And I feel as a result
of their efforts we're beginning to see more negative coverage about
obesity. I don't see anything positive being done. I feel as though we're
being portrayed as lazy and totally lacking control.
Additionally, it's disheartening to see the careers of certain actresses
tank because of weight gain. Take Kirstie Alley for instance, she has
played some smart, gorgeous roles, but where is she now? Pier 1
commercials? And speaking of "The Practice" I always wondered how
Camryn Manheim (the spokeswoman for big beautiful women) and Lara Flynn
Boyle (the spokeswoman for anorexic women) ever got along?
— Le P.
October 17, 2003
I actually don't like shows that SEEM to cheer on the MO characters despite
their weight. I wish they were just part of a cast like the skinnier
characters without any comments about weight. There is a show coming on
featuring Fran Drescher, I forget the name of the show, and I know the
message is that anyone should be allowed to enter a beauty pageant even MO
people. The whole show seems to be centered around all of the people who
discourage and make fun of the fat person entering a beauty contest. That
in my opinion just feeds into society's acceptance of making fun of MO
people and backfires on it's presumed message - the support of MO people. I
am disturbed that teen magazines still feature skinny teens as the norm and
really alienate the non-skinny girls. I know my dieting hell began with
these magazines sending me subliminal messages about how inadequate I was.
PS - Good luck with your work - I love that you are doing this!
— Yolanda J.
October 17, 2003
Ah, you've hit on something that bothers me a LOT. I accept that
television and movies are always going to have a greater than avg number of
gorgeous men and women for the eye-candy, "hottie fantasy"
factor.
But in general, isn't it the job of the actor to make the audience feel
what the character is feeling? And good drama is supposed to hold a mirror
up to society - well, in real life there's a LOT more diversity in size and
appearance than on television and in movies! And I refuse to believe that
one's weight makes them inherently unable to convey emotion artfully - or
maybe the message is that hey, no one CARES what fat people feel like,
they're different from us and their feelings don't matter? I don't know,
but it drives me nuts. I want to see the best actors and actresses,
whether they're Kathy Bates or Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp or ...whoever. I
do think it's much, much harder for women. They can't even be average,
they have to be super tiny. Jim Belushi, John Goodman, Michael Chiklis,
Brian Dennehy, James Gandolfino, etc all work regularly, but they're
usually cast against THIN women! Would a woman of John Goodman's size get
any work? Would a show be based around a woman if she had Dennis Franz's
figure? Does anyone focus on a male talk show host's weight the way people
do with Oprah? Would the producers of The Sopranos hound Gandolfino about
his weight the way the producers of Designing Women hounded Delta Burke?
Do they really believe that a woman's size impairs her ability to ACT? I
guess not if you're Marlon Brando, since they were still paying him
mega-millions for cameos. I guess if you're a guy, fat is funny or girth
indicates power, but if you're a woman it means you're unattractive, lazy,
sloppy and sad.
I don't know how much Hollywood is to blame and how much we are. Hollywood
is really not imaginative and only sells us what they think we want. Until
the public starts clamoring to see a plus size woman in the movies the same
way they do the skinny ones, they're not going to get the message. And
even then, I don't think they're that good at getting the message, they
prefer to just re-work the same old ideas over and over.
— sandsonik
October 19, 2003
Hi Annie- A while back, I saw a "True Hollywood Story" about the
life of Momma Cass Elliot. Her now-grown daughter was talking about the
way in which her mother died. Momma Cass died from a heart problem, but
there was a rumor that she'd choked to death on a sandwich. The daughter
was appalled that all her life, she'd heard jokes about her *fat* mother
choking to death on food. I find that disgusting as well- I've never seen
anyone laughing about someone dying from cancer or a horrible accident. I
feel that the media (in part) has given society permission to think that
problems that MO people face are a joke or brought on themselves by their
own "piggishness". A thin person choking to death on a sandwich
would certainly be viewed as a terrible tragedy; but an obese person- an
act of gluttony. Good Luck :o) Mea
— Mea A.
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