You may have heard about Mike and Molly. It's a new sitcom about two morbidly obese overeaters who meet at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting and fall in love. It's directed by veteran sitcom guy James Burrows (Laverne and Shirley, Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will and Grace and many more) and I counted 23 explicitly fat jokes in the 20 minute series premiere.
The sitcom itself, aside from the fat focus, is pretty formulaic and nothing to write home about.
But what about the fat jokes?
To be honest, I'm not sure what to think.
On the one hand the jokes weren't cruel or intentionally launched to hurt the characters' feelings. They were more along the lines of the types of jokes that might be cracked about a person's strange taste in clothing.
On the other hand, joking about obesity, a condition that for some causes dramatic personal, social and medical angst and suffering, seems callous regardless of intentions - I've never seen any sitcoms about cancer.
I guess the question I'm left with is whether or not the normalization of making jokes at the expense of a person's weight is wise, and while the show's jokes are good natured, I suspect the general public's versions will often be of a different flavour and I worry that this show simply adds to society's unfounded belief that fat jokes are fair game.
Did you see it? What did you think?
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I saw the show and thought it was great! It was nice to see some normal looking(obese) people as the main characters of the sitcom. I refuse to watch shows like Desperate Housewives where everyone is painfully thin and fakely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAt least Mike & Molly characters are realistic! Walk down any main street and you'll more Mike&Mollys than DHs...well except in Hollywood.
I'm going to give it another week to see if they find some kind of balance, but I won't keep watching it if the fat jokes continue. There's so much other stuff on TV right now that's better.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is - most fat people just aren't that obsessed about being fat. We think about what we eat (especially if we're making not so great food choices), and maybe getting up and doing some exercise, etc. But these characters seem obsessed. They're very glaring stereotypes that don't really reflect a whole demographic.
Also, I would hope that most fat people have more supportive friends and family in their lives. That's probably not the case for everyone, but honestly, no one I know makes fat jokes, at my (or anyone else's) expense.
Maybe I'm living in a bubble, and with a different set of people around me I'd feel differently, but it's coming off as a one-trick pony.
The Family Guy premier has fat jokes all the time:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMujpDMoIpE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR8N6KwBf0w&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OfTRT2uuH0&feature=related
I think it's a case of, if they are satirizing it, there is a dialogue about it....?
Don't intend to watch this show. Ever.
ReplyDeleteRegarding fat jokes... there's vast a difference between overweight folks joking amongst themselves about their common struggle and normal weight folks trying to be funny at an overweight person's expense.
Being able to laugh at yourself is a sign of character strength. Being the target of a mean-spirited "joke" is not. I suppose it's like racial 'humour' - it's "ok" when the person of the group in question tells it, but it's offensive and racist when anyone else does it.
just my $0.02 fwiw
1. Most people do not realize that obesity is the cause of major disease.
ReplyDelete2. The size of those two people have become the norm in society.
3. It's a new world order.
4. As Michael Pollan stated: "You can leave the Western diet without leaving civilization.
It's football season, so you might as well get used to this: http://bit.ly/b5i23N
It's not that most people do not realize that obesity is the cause of major disease--a fact most often euphemistically cited not for its own sake but to justify invidious prejudice against the obese--it is that most people don't realize (or don't accept) that obesity itself is the major disease. If only the obese suffered from hypertension, sleep apnea, diabetes, etc., no one would care about mitigating these either.
DeleteSaying obesity is a disease is just another way people justify there own mistakes. Obesity causes disease but its not one in itself. Obesity is caused by people being lazy, eating the wrong food, looking for quick fixes, not willing to commit to a long term goal and poor education or guidance. Out of all the obese people a very low portion are due to any clinical conditions.
DeleteQuick fixes don't work, don't waste your life looking for the easy option. Put the effort in!
I do not intend to watch it either. I'm all for shows with charaters who aren't perfect, but why do the shows who don't have perfect charaters the show has to be all about the inperfection?? Why can't these charaters not talk about their being fat? I really like the Covert Affairs because they have a blind charater who is not only functional but outstanding in his field.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen the show. I won't watch it. Not because it's about the obese, but because it's another lame sitcom.
ReplyDeleteIt would be great if this show served as a vehicle to discuss food issues, as opposed to just making fat jokes. But given that it's a sitcom, I suspect it's going to be a shallow little puddle of time wasting stupidity.
It would be great if I turned out to be wrong. Imagine that they actually discuss over-eaters issues. Using food as a crutch. Food as a drug. Food as self-nurturing. Do it all with humour.
Never going to happen. Too bad.
this show is simply another example of how obesity is the last socially acceptable form of abuse. and yes it IS abuse. when are we going to stop doing this crap to each other.
ReplyDeleteOh so much I could write and I don't know where to start...
ReplyDeleteSo my reality, getting gas at the gas station, minding my own business, two young men start verbally abusing me, making rude and crude comments all because I'm obese. I didn't do or say anything to them and they were so beligerent I actually feared for my safety as I went to my car and no one would help or call the police for me.
While going for a walk while trying to exercise, people have thrown their garbage at me, sworn at me, yelled insults...just because I'm fat.
A stranger on the bus as he gets off, spits in my face, teenagers think its funny to point and stare at me at the grocery store...I could go on
Yes it is the one form of descrimination that is still acceptable by society. So I'm afraid to go for a walk by myself, I stay home and get unhealthier - due to real fear from real threats of violence because I'm fat. So many don't care that we are still people
So even though it is nice to see large people in main character rolls, it would be nice if we fat people weren't only there to be laughed at. The show has funny points, but really it is a very sad reflection on society
I agree with most comments, enough is enough. I found it to be uncomfortable and just plain embarrassing. The funny parts of the show had nothing to do with the ridiculous weight-related jokes. I did a review about it after watching last night as well. I hope they get it together and realize there is a line in comedy and I can't even watch this around my children (when I am trying to teach understanding, empathy and prevent bullying).
ReplyDeleteyouvsweightloss.com
Actually, there is a sitcom about cancer, starting this year, called The Big C.
ReplyDeleteHowever I think it may have been developed with something more than "laughs" in mind. It will be interesting to compare the two sitcoms that both deal with chronic diseases.
I didn't realize that show had already premiered. I was intrigued, because I have studied fatness in my women's studies and cultural studies master's program, and I was interested in how they would be treating it in comparison with other shows (like Drop Dead Diva and Huge, for example.)
ReplyDeleteI'm disappointed to hear there are so many fat jokes in the show. I LOVED that actress when she played Sookie on Gilmore Girls.