Fat Families Sky 1 Wednesday pm
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Yet another new show about losing weight!
No-nonsense weight loss expert Steve Miller launches his fight against flab. Moving into the homes of supersize families, he sets out to transform the fatties into fitties.
(6 episodes)
I'm not sure about the timing. There are so many weight loss shows I'm not convinced they inspire more than make people get fed up and not bother.
No-nonsense weight loss expert Steve Miller launches his fight against flab. Moving into the homes of supersize families, he sets out to transform the fatties into fitties.
(6 episodes)
I'm not sure about the timing. There are so many weight loss shows I'm not convinced they inspire more than make people get fed up and not bother.
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As a fat person who has no desire to lose weight, who resents the demonisation of those like myself, and who is becoming tired of being cast by the media as a legitimate target for abuse, I find these shows almost without exception demeaning, offensive and exploitative, especially where children and teenagers are roped / bullied / scared into participating. Were any other group of people involved there would be rules preventing the hosts getting in people's faces and screaming at them about how disgusting they are as they lie collapsed on the ground sobbing (there's a good reason why BL contestants are apparently threatened with a $100,000 fine if they spill any of the show's backstage secrets). But then presumably we fatties don't have sufficient feelings to be entitled to basic human respect, and no 'motivation' is considered too harsh for the entertainment of the compliantly skinny viewing public.
The one such show I'd make an exception for so far and which despite being initially dubious I'm glad I caught was 'Too Young to Diet', screened last night on Sky 3 and which followed a former anorexic teen's investigation into the way adult society's preoccupation with weight and losing it has percolated to children of a younger and younger age, showcasing a variety of eight year-old calorie counters, twelve year-old wannabe WAGs and mothers who'd rather their ten year-old daughters used an elliptical machine and calculate GDAs than have 'puppy fat'. Depressing in its own right for the clear theft of these girls' childhoods by our consumerist society, whilst I considered their tolerance / encouragement of this far more akin to 'child abuse' than all the well-publicised cases of fat children being taken into care and fat prospective foster / adoptive parents first forced to slim lest they set a 'bad example', it would seem that social services departments have an altogether different set of priorities.
Otherwise I attempt to bypass the whole sorry indictment on our society's warped obsession with other people's bodies by avoiding the TV entirely during January / early Feb (I know they run year-round, now that 'belly telly' has become the new property / antiques / makeover genre, but the signal-to-noise ratio drops off somewhat after this point), watching DVDs, reading books, resisting the immense pressure to put the scales by the fridge and live on mung beans, and hoping that some day soon there will be some sort of backlash against a wave of propaganda which I fear will otherwise only end in fat people being regularly attacked in the street, banned by new laws from having / raising / looking after kids, working in certain spheres such as teaching and healthcare, discriminated out of all others, travelling freely (airlines already talking about penalising fat fliers), obtaining NHS care and worse.
Don't know whether you watched Horizon the other night, which looked back on it's coverage of the food industry and diets over the years. Some very interesting issues raised towards the end of the programme regarding the effects of genetics on weight (i.e. just as some people find it impossible to gain weight, others may find it impossible to lose weight). Also, in evolutionary terms there has always been a distinct advantage in being able to absorb and store fat, when periods of famine were commonplace. To simply reverse that evolutionary feature within a couple of generations is pretty impossible - I suppoose it's like trying to stop a cat killing a mouse simply because plenty of other food is available - easier said than done to overcome its evolutionary instinct. Some nutritional scientists are completely re-evaluating their previous opinions of fat people just "lacking willpower" or being greedy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pqb9q/Diet_A_Horizon_Guide/
As Rhod said, a great post.
However, I have to disagree with the secong paragraph. I too am a fat person and don't condone the demonisation of anyone. When it gets to the point of demonisation it's gone way too far.
There is nothing wrong with these shows. Are there too many of them? Probably there are. Does anyone "have" to watch them? No hey don't. Do the people that watch them have to join in and do what they see? "no they don't. My sister weighed 25st and used to watch BL with a stacked dinner plate balanced on her tummy and boobs wolfing down the food while seeing how well the contestants had done and deciding who should get axed.
It's a fact that being severely overweight affects your health. Even if it's just pressure on your joints which could cause you problems in later life. It is right that these shows are on TV to encourage you to do something about it.
There has to be a line. When you have something on GMTV about how to lose 1-2 stone to get in a bikini for the summer then you have to question why was the show needed? When you are lookin at people obese and morbidly obese that is another matter.
Much as you and other fat people may want shows promoting how life is/can be good when you are fat. People aren't lazy, do hold down jobs etc. it's never going to happen. You can do all those things while smoking or heavy drinking but they don't promote those as being ok do they?
I understand what you are saying about how it's wrong when you have a trainer screaming in someone's face when they are on the ground sobbing. However that is what is needed in some cases. If you look at these shows it's never to that extreme with every participant, just select ones.
These people have a choice. They can up and walk at anytime. They can sit down and do nothing. What can anyone do about it? If they get manhandled then they sue the trainer and production company. The fat person has the overall control.
If we are assuming they aren't going to walk away, which I think mostly it's because they don't want to be seen quittig on TV more than anything, these people also need to be broken. What the trainers do with the screaming and getting in their face is no different to what happens in the army when you get a new recruit with an "**** you" attitude who won't follow orders and tries to dig in and do what he wants. Where as the recruit has that attitude a lot of the people that go on these hows have an "I can't" attitude and an "don't want too" one as well.
My sister used to drive to the shops 500 metres from her front door because it's easier than walking. Why walk when I can drive? There was no reason why she couldn't walk. When she went shopping she would walk around for a few hours "as long as I have someone to walk with as."
That is one of her favourite sayings. I can only do it "If I have someone ........." She would only do housework if I was there. I didn't have to help, just sit there. That way she has someone to talk too while doing housework. If I had to go to college I would leave and she would just stop and go to bed for a nap or sit and watch TV. The housework can wait until I'm there again.
Often the people on this shows are capable of doing so much more as people but just won't. They need to be broken to start to believe in themselves. Even if they leave the house and put on three stone. At least they will think "I can" do instead of "I can't" do. That change may be what could lead them to having an happier and more active life as a fat person. Going out and doing things rather than holding back because they are ashamed of their size and what others may think.
There is no right answer to this problem. If it continues as it is than fat people that are happy the way they are have to deal with what we have to deal with. If it changes to not promoting and encouraging change and just altering everything to accomodate fat unhealthy people, then the ones that are happy and content with their lives are happy, but the ones that aren't happy and want to change will never do so because it's easier to just accept their life is shit (in their eyes) and they have to just suffer it.
I am in favour of keeping it as it is. Yes I get the fat comments and jokes, I probably do get discriminated against but I can handle it because I'm strong. Encourage and help the ones that aren't happy and want to change things. If it means more of these weight loss shows then fine. I am strong enough and intelligent enough to switch the channel or go and do something else. I don't assume I'm being forced to watch anything and do what the shows tell me to do.
I've highlighted the line I'd disagree with. I reckon it's more likely to be overweight people who enjoy watching these programs rather than skinny people. We all know what we should eat and how much we should exercise but it's so much easier watching someone else do it.
I'd also like to add that people compete to get on these shows, they know what they are like and what they will have to do so why would they feel exploited?