To Be Fat Like Me

I just watched To Be Fat Like Me on Lifetime. Now before the scoffing starts, it was not the typical romantic, you know the ending fifteen minutes in, comedy. It was a movie about a highschooler who makes a documentary about obesity. She's the thin jock type and dresses as an obese girl for summer school. I guess I felt a connection to this movie since I was one of the 'fat kids' in high school. It brought up so many good points, but I think perhaps my favorite was one suggestion as to why people discriminate against obese individuals. "Anybody can be fat." You cannot change your ethnicity or age (time not withstanding), but anyone can gain weight, especially in today's sedentary society. The movie made me recall the other day when I was shopping. An overweight women dropped the armload of things she was carrying. Like I would for anyone, I stopped to help her pick them up. That wasn't the unusual thing, though. It was her gratitude that caught my attention. Most people will say thanks, and though they mean it, it's a passing thanks. No big deal since it's something small. But she seemed so grateful that someone actually helped her. It was like the dogs at the SPCA that were used to being beaten rather than pet.

There are many things in this society that I dispise, and unintentional prejudices are high on that list. We are so judgemental without evening meaning to be. And I'm not excluding myself from this assessment. It's disgusting. I was showing my aunt pictures of my friends and her first comment was, "Why do you have so many dikey looking friends?" I couldn't believe her. I'm fairly certain my mouth was even open while I stared. The scary thing is that she has friends, family even, of every sexual orientation, but that was still on the tip of her tongue. I've made mental comments regarding a person's appearance before, we all have. But if those of us who are not bothered by "different" think derogatory thoughts, what are less open individuals thinking. I wish I had the answers.