Feeling Exploited?

Do me a favor. Go here and read the first four or five paragraphs of Jeff Simon's review of the new movie Precious. Then come back and let's talk...

...Thank you. By the way, we're not here to discuss the merits of Precious. Perhaps another time. No, I want to look at Simon's assertion; namely, that producers for David Letterman's show, and probably other similar programs, "prefer" to keep fat people out of the camera-visible seats. Truthfully, I am sure that no TV program would make an official policy to that effect, on- or off-the-record [if memory serves me right, Letterman at least seemed to be more disturbed by quixotic weight-loss crusader (and exploiter, through his Deal-A-Meal and "____ing to the Oldies" offers) Richard Simmons than any larger-than-life guests who've graced his stage. What he thinks of the make-up of his audience is officially unknown and, given Letterman's publicity of late, I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt until shown otherwise]. That said, Jeff Simon is probably dead-on. Not that any of this is new, by the way. I was by no means a regular viewer of "The Tonight Show" during Johnny Carson's long reign as host, but I can't remember seeing anyone but the photogenic in areas that got on camera. I'd wager that if someone went back and studied footage from, say, Your Show Of Shows, or any other variety or game show of the era, the same would be true. And let's be clear here. By photogenic, I mean thin, attractive and, in most cases, white.

Actually, if anyone wants to call out a TV show for anti-fat "issues", let's start with American Idol, and Simon Cowell. Unfortunately, Simon is probably right when he notes that fat contestants are at a decided disadvantage in the post-Idol world. Despite the fact that overweight people are in a majority in the United States, we don't seem to embrace our overweight brethren, either in media or everyday life. Concider Ruben Studdard. He was the winner when he faced off with Clay Aiken in Season 2. But the self-proclaimed "Velvet Teddy Bear" went nowhere, while Aiken had a few hit recordings [at least until his sexual preference became public; the "Claymates" apparently weren't ready to fantasise about an openly gay performer, I wonder how many of them were Elton John fans?].

In the interest of fairness, it should be pointed out that Idol probably does not exploit its overweight contestants (Simon saying that one singer or another is "too fat" for a music career may develop an audience for such candidates; for the moment, though, I'll assume his comments are not meant to do so). Exploitation of the overweight in media comes up in odd places, at unexpected times. Take a recent episode of the crime-adventure series Bones. A key sub-plot concerned the alleged existence of "clubs" where fat people were fed by the thin. If I understood it right, the whole point was some kind of sexual gratification. I'm not stupid, people. Given the size and diversity of planet Earth, I don't doubt that such groups exist [I am aware of cultures, mainly in Africa, that prefer to fatten up potential wives, because larger women are believed to be more attractive. But that is not the same thing]. But I've been grossly overweight my whole life. If anybody would have run into this kind of thing, you'd think it'd be me [for that matter, I've always been sceptical of the similar theory that there are "thin" people who get some kind of sexual "rush" by pairing off with a fat person. Again, such persons certainly exist. But, while one hears of "thin" men aroused by "fat" women, you seldom, if ever, hear of the opposite (and would expect to)]. Could it be that those thin men in question are taking advantage of women who are judged as "unattractive" by most of the media they deal with? Sounds like exploitation to me. Oh, well; the sub-plot gave the show a chance to put fat women on the dance floor [and you'd be surprised how many people find that a hoot]...

It's hard to get feedback for this blog, since many of the traditional promotion sources for blogs are not available to it [too few posts]. But, if you hear about it, and want to help open the discussion, please tell your friends about it. Next time around, a look at the biggest exploiter of all: The Biggest Loser.

-Mike Riley