Rhetorical Analysis Communication Disorders and the Media: Representation in Contemporary Culture

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Obesity negatively portrayed in the media

Introduction

In comedic movies and sitcoms, obesity is a stigma portrayed as a disorder in which the people who experience it hold no meaningful value and are often portrayed as goofy, awkward comedy relief. They are also depicted as fat because they are unable to control their eating habits, eat large amounts of unhealthy foods, and refuse to exercise. For example, in the film Pitch Perfect,  Fat Amy struggles with obesity and refuses to do any physical exercise, and in the show Friends season 6, episode 15, “The One That Could Have Been Part 1,” Monica Geller is made to have no value as a person while fat and food is the only thing she cares about. In the movie The Goonies, even children are not spared from facing bullying about their weight. The misrepresentation of obesity in the media can lead to harmful associations with obesity for both those who do and do not struggle with it. 

Pitch Perfect

The popular romance and comedy movie of 2012, Pitch Perfect, follows the Barden Bellas, an acapella group with ten female members. One of the girls, played by Rebel Wilson, within the group introduces herself to others as Fat Amy. She does this as a defense mechanism as she struggles with being overweight and is surrounded by skinny girls (11:18-12:08). Rebel Wilson is a well-known actress who was stereotypically cast as the fat, funny friend. In fact, many people told her not to lose weight because by doing so, no one would cast her in future projects. Her popularity helps play into many stigmas about obesity, one stigma being they are lazy and choose not to work out. In this movie, Fat Amy is the only character seen to struggle with weight, and there are many jokes throughout the film about her weight. It is a false representation of what leads to obesity because it’s saying overweight people don’t work out and choose not to do cardio, and that’s why they are overweight. In the scene, Aubrey, the team captain, talks about what must be done to prepare for competitions. Aubrey mentions how everyone will need to work out and do cardio, and in response to that, Fat Amy says she does not do cardio and is later seen sitting watching everyone doing cardio (35:06-36:11). The music in the scene is funny, with light background music to make it seem like a joke and not serious. The setting is an auditorium practice room for singers and actors. The character fulfills the audience’s expectations because they are the fat, funny, lazy friend. The overweight character is the movie’s comedic relief, which is their only fundamental role. The actress Rebel Wilson shows how in most shows or movies, someone who is overweight has to be funny. The scene also portrays how being overweight must be due to laziness, and it’s all their fault. While playing this role, Rebel Wilson provides other people with opportunities to be funny and joke about her weight. Then she provides the opportunity to make fun of herself, showing that being overweight is just a joke and that anyone who has experienced being overweight should learn to accept constant “fun” comments even if they are harmful. The message relayed in this scene is to make the viewer feel that obesity is okay if you make it into a joke or make fun of someone because of it. The scene is meant to lighten the mood and make it funnier because the movie is a comedy. There is a general belief in society that people tend to enjoy it when jokes are made about someone who is overweight and often relates it to extreme laziness. 

Friends

In the very famous television show that aired from 1994-2004, the devaluing of a character due to weight can be seen many times throughout the seasons. It ended with the finale having 52.2 million views because it was an uplifting show about life in your 20s and how your friends really become your family.  Since Friends is a comedy, the writers thought one way to optimize the jokes would be to make one of the characters be fat when they were in high school. During one particular episode, they all expressed a “what if circumstance”  about their life that could have potentially actually happened. For Monica, it was if she did not lose weight.In the beginning of the episode, she talks about how different her life would be if she did not lose weight and states that her current boyfriend definitely would not be dating her if she was still fat. This helps to perpetuate the idea that fat people have no self-worth or value to society. Her boyfriend Chandler says he would still date her and asks everyone if they thought he was that shallow. Then Monica’s brother, Ross, cuts him off by saying, “No, I just think Monica was that fat” (1:08-1:23). This statement is extremely mentally damaging to many people by maintaining that fat people cannot find love and no one would possibly want to date them. The episode continues, and they go into a version of life, living out their what ifs they said earlier. Throughout the episode, Monica is portrayed as someone with obesity. Then later in the episode, she is seen sitting at the kitchen table eating frosting out of the container. Monica’s friend Pheobe yells from the bedroom, and in a panic, Monica jumps up, concerned that Pheobe sat on her Kit Kat. Meanwhile, Phoebe was actually upset because she had lost millions of dollars in the market (9:17-9:32). This scene continues to make fun of and belittle people suffering from obesity as if the only thing they care only about is food and nothing else matters to them.

The Goonies

The Goonies is a popular movie from the 1980s in which four friends go on a treasure hunt to save their neighborhood from destruction. Even though they are friends, the overweight kid in the group is bullied into doing the “Truffle Shuffle”, a humiliating fat dance, before they will let him in the house. He is upset and doesn’t want to do it, but eventually agrees because he wants to be accepted (7:17-7:40). This scene demonstrates how even so-called friends can bully the overweight one in the group. It also portrays how being a child doesn’t keep you safe from the taunting or bullying people endure due to their weight. Aside from the dance, his nickname in the group is “Chunk” (7:11). This is another common behavior people engage in; assigning cruel weight-associated nicknames to obese people. Later in the movie, there is a scene in which one of the characters believes there is something buried under the floor. As a joke, another character suggests putting chocolate all over the floor and letting Chunk eat his way through. Chunk becomes furious at the constant teasing about his weight (40:51-41:02). While it may seem like funny and innocent humor to some people, to the person suffering the teasing, it is very distressing.

 

Works Cited

The Goonies. Directed by Richard Donner, Warner Bros. Pictures, 1985. https://youtu.be/t5whaRkuipU

 “The One That Could Have Been Part 1” Friends, Season 6, Episode 15, written by Mart Kauffman & David Crane, directed by James Burrows, NBC, 1994. https://youtu.be/vkBrgKI9-1c

Pitch Perfect. Directed by Jason Moore, Universal Pictures, 2012. https://youtu.be/o-tuw9rH8HE