Overcompensation...and the Media

Hi Everyone!
We just got home from Jim Gaffigan...OMG funniest man alive. Legit. Hilarious. :)

In the car we were chatting about the blog. We have a bunch of ideas for posts, but the one we decided on for tonight is overcompensation.

It seems that as soon as someone hears your fat; it must be followed by an adjective to apologize for this. "Oh he's fat but he can juggle! Not only can he juggle but he's good company and he comes with a cute dog. THE cutest dog.".

In D's case he is funny. Now granted, he's naturally funny...but just that trait alone is enough to overcompensate for his size. Me? I'm not so lucky. I'm not funny...but I am sarcastic, and sweet. Those together seem to hold enough merit to excuse my ass.

Not everyone is like this - but a good majority of the people we know are. For example...I work in tech support. I troubleshoot for a living, and as a result I have a collection of customers who know me. The first year I went out to a trade show I met some of these customers - and it got back to me that one of them said "Oh yeah I met *Samantha*....cute voice but she's fat. Never saw that coming. Don't think I'll be calling into support quite as much now". The person he said it to is a good friend of mine - and checked him into place....but it really made me think. Are people honestly disappointed when they meet me and I'm not a size 2? Apparently so. How sad.

I could see if I was fat and tragic....wearing a mu mu and scarfing fast food at the booth. I'm not. So, why is my size even an issue?

Back to the rant at hand....overcompensating for being fat. If you're fat and you're not funny, or sweet, or can juggle. Then what? Being normal sized and cute is enough to get by -- being fat and cute? Notsomuch. This brings us to the media. Why aren't there any fat people in the media who don't fall into one of the following categories:

1. Comic (John Belushi, Chris Farley, John Candy, Roseanne Barr, Rosie O'Donnell)

2. Tragic (Mimi from the Drew Carey Show, Ricky Lake, Anna Nicole)

3. Culturally Acceptable (Queen Latifah, Monique, Anthony Anderson)

Is there ever a main character in a show or movie who is fat and fantastic? Nope. Does not exist. However, there are some exceptions to the above. Fat is acceptable in the following conditions only:

1. Sidekick (Jennifer Hudson in SATC, Jason Alexander in Seinfeld)

2. Detective/Cop (Dennis Franz on NYPD Blue, Every other guy on Law and Order)

3. Stereotyped role (Fat Italian: James Gandolfini from Sopranos...hell the whole CAST of Sopranos, Fat Greek: Nia Vardalos from My Big, Fat Greek Wedding).

Sometimes, the fat people aren't even real - they're animated:

1. Homer Simpson from The Simpsons

2. Peter Griffin from Family Guy (see previous "No Fat Chicks" rant for *S's thoughts on this show)

3. Cartman from South Park

I have racked my brain, polled random friends and done Google searches. There is not a single show out there with a fat main character that does not fall into one of the above, "safe"categories. Moreso - there are 500 shows that do fall into those categories. Why are there no fat action heroes? Would Bruce Willis have been as kickass in Die Hard if he weighed 300 pounds? Fat superhero? No such thing.

Recently Derek and I came across a show called "Ruby". You think this would be our thing. She's fat- she's losing weight and she's honest about it. She sucks. Please click the link below to see the ridiculousness that is Ruby.

http://www.mystyle.com/mystyle/shows/ruby/index.jsp

My gripe with her is that she is wearing MUMU's (or maybe a bedsheet - we're not sure)...on the verge of death...and trying to buy chocolate in the fucking health food store. REALLY? REALLY?! She needs to get a grip on reality. I hate reality TV....but that is a rant for another night.

Signing off,
SUHP x 2

PS - Here's a shot of Derek. You've seen my cute face and asked to his...so here he is. Sexy eh? :)