Nostalgia, yes, and good writing outside of the stuff that was offensive in the first place or didn’t age well. The cast worked so well with each other and the whole production became finely tuned.
Humor was much more mean in the 90s and 2000s. Some jokes didn’t even register as offensive.
Before social media, we weren’t as aware as we are now of what’s hurtful to people who are different from us. Often, marginalized actors had the burden of suggesting changes. For example, Gabrielle Union rewrote a lot of problematic dialogue for Bring It On without credit or compensation.
Dune was distracting when the only fat actor they cast, Stephen McKinley Henderson, is literally as capable as every other soldier standing out in the desert for hours at a time. But the only fat character they cast was a grotesque gluttonous worm played by a skinny guy in a fat suit.
It was deeply disappointing to me that they kept this portrayal of Baron Harkonnen. It was deeply unnecessary and I keep hoping we will move away from the idea that evil people are also physically different from good people. Uglier, fatter, etc.
I n addition to the “acceptable loophole ways to laugh at fat people” as highlighted in this comic, there’s also this tendency for fat people in media to be the funny character, often in self-deprecating ways even if it’s not directly about their fatness- and yet it always does seem to be about their fatness inadvertently. They’re clumsy or dumb or desperate or like a sexless jokester. So either way, it often still feels like they are being laughed at for qualities that are stereotypically attributed to fat people. Honestly, I just want more mid-to-fat people in media just being normal. They can be evil, smart, funny, complex, literally anything but just a joke or have their story line completely revolve around their weight (or attempt at weight loss). It’s
To be fair I still haven't seen it, but I've seen so much media about Bridgerton and it seems really cool that the main romantic lead is chubby and her fatness is just relatively uncommented-on in the show. Hot men like her!
This made me think of the character of Kate on This Is Us. When that show first started, it was everywhere that CLEARLY there would be Kate-weightloss story arch and that the actress SURELY was going to lose weight "for the part". And while the depiction of that character was not without issue, I was so pleasantly surprised to see that her weight did not fluctuate just to give into primetime TV tropes.
God I love TBBT but that line about Howard's mom makes my heart hurt! She's such a beloved character how can they be so cruel to her?
Thanks OP for sharing this it's something I didn't even realize
Another example from yesterday: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoUAp9HCUv0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoUAp9HCUv0)
Martin Short in a fat suit interviewing Bill Hader.
It's funny and the fat suit is the butt of a couple jokes - which are the least funny ones of the bunch, really. The plate of donuts is just 🙄. So dumb, would have been better and kinder without that additional gag.
Two days ago?? Yeah that really makes me cringe. Why not put on a character without the fat suit, the whole thing implies that the character’s silliness and weirdness is connected to their being fat. So dumb and hurtful
This is another cartoon by this artist that I always think about when going to the doctor https://leftycartoons.com/2018/10/27/fat-people-and-doctors/
Amp is so good. I didnt know he was still at it.
This is so on point. Also, "Friends" hasn't aged well at all, for so many reasons. I still don't understand why it's so popular everywhere.
Nostalgia
It's MAFA = Make America Friends Again.
Nostalgia, yes, and good writing outside of the stuff that was offensive in the first place or didn’t age well. The cast worked so well with each other and the whole production became finely tuned. Humor was much more mean in the 90s and 2000s. Some jokes didn’t even register as offensive. Before social media, we weren’t as aware as we are now of what’s hurtful to people who are different from us. Often, marginalized actors had the burden of suggesting changes. For example, Gabrielle Union rewrote a lot of problematic dialogue for Bring It On without credit or compensation.
I never found friends funny. Only laughed at it once.
To each their own! I loved Friends and its inspiration, Living Single.
Dune was distracting when the only fat actor they cast, Stephen McKinley Henderson, is literally as capable as every other soldier standing out in the desert for hours at a time. But the only fat character they cast was a grotesque gluttonous worm played by a skinny guy in a fat suit.
It was deeply disappointing to me that they kept this portrayal of Baron Harkonnen. It was deeply unnecessary and I keep hoping we will move away from the idea that evil people are also physically different from good people. Uglier, fatter, etc.
I n addition to the “acceptable loophole ways to laugh at fat people” as highlighted in this comic, there’s also this tendency for fat people in media to be the funny character, often in self-deprecating ways even if it’s not directly about their fatness- and yet it always does seem to be about their fatness inadvertently. They’re clumsy or dumb or desperate or like a sexless jokester. So either way, it often still feels like they are being laughed at for qualities that are stereotypically attributed to fat people. Honestly, I just want more mid-to-fat people in media just being normal. They can be evil, smart, funny, complex, literally anything but just a joke or have their story line completely revolve around their weight (or attempt at weight loss). It’s
To be fair I still haven't seen it, but I've seen so much media about Bridgerton and it seems really cool that the main romantic lead is chubby and her fatness is just relatively uncommented-on in the show. Hot men like her!
This is really smart
This made me think of the character of Kate on This Is Us. When that show first started, it was everywhere that CLEARLY there would be Kate-weightloss story arch and that the actress SURELY was going to lose weight "for the part". And while the depiction of that character was not without issue, I was so pleasantly surprised to see that her weight did not fluctuate just to give into primetime TV tropes.
OMG, I love this SO much!
God I love TBBT but that line about Howard's mom makes my heart hurt! She's such a beloved character how can they be so cruel to her? Thanks OP for sharing this it's something I didn't even realize
In additions to Friends being terrible for this, New Girl is a runner up. The Schmidt/fat-suit Schmidt tropes are just the worst.
oh man I forgot all about this. yes.
Another example from yesterday: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoUAp9HCUv0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoUAp9HCUv0) Martin Short in a fat suit interviewing Bill Hader. It's funny and the fat suit is the butt of a couple jokes - which are the least funny ones of the bunch, really. The plate of donuts is just 🙄. So dumb, would have been better and kinder without that additional gag.
Two days ago?? Yeah that really makes me cringe. Why not put on a character without the fat suit, the whole thing implies that the character’s silliness and weirdness is connected to their being fat. So dumb and hurtful
Right? 1000%
This is awesome!