All of my research into the representation of overweight people has shown the same thing. They are often shown as being lazy, stupid, unsuccessful, unlovable and ultimately something to be avoided.
Some representations DID have a positive side. For example Smithy from Gavin and Stacey is quite funny and does fall in love with a girl. Shrek also finds love with Princess Fiona. This might be seen as suggesting that it IS possible for some overweight people to find love. However, it is interesting to note that the people they fall in love with (Nessa for Smithy, and Fiona for Shrek) are also overweight. This might represent overweight people as only being able to be loved by other overweight people.
I think these representations are quite bad because they give people a very negative impression of overweight people. If people saw these characters / stories often then they might assume that ALL overweight people were like that, and would end up stereotyping them.
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Friday, 16 September 2011
Section 3 - News
There have been several stories in the news recently about overweight people.
1) Fat Man Yells Abuse at Kelis - In september 2011 a story was in the news about an overweight man who saw Kelis at an airport and started yelling racist comments at her. The newspapers that reported the story focused on the fact that he was fat, calling him sweaty and red faced. This article suggests that overweight people can often be agressive and rude, and are often sweaty.
2) An article in the Daily Mail recently told of an obese man who had stolen food from restaurants on many different occasions. The fact that his crime was stealing food might suggest that all overweight people are obsessed with food, and possible even are all criminals. Lots of the comments that readers wrote under the article made fun of the man suggesting that he was disgusting and revolting. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1262992/George-Jolicur-The-43-stone-man-fat-lock-up.html
3) Another article in the Daily Mail wrote about how if you are friends with an overweight person, you may end up overweight yourself! The article might suggest to a reader that being friends with overweight people is not a good idea, and may lead to overweight people having less friends. It represents overweight friends as being dangerous for your health. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1038402/Why-fat-friend-make-fat-well.html
1) Fat Man Yells Abuse at Kelis - In september 2011 a story was in the news about an overweight man who saw Kelis at an airport and started yelling racist comments at her. The newspapers that reported the story focused on the fact that he was fat, calling him sweaty and red faced. This article suggests that overweight people can often be agressive and rude, and are often sweaty.
2) An article in the Daily Mail recently told of an obese man who had stolen food from restaurants on many different occasions. The fact that his crime was stealing food might suggest that all overweight people are obsessed with food, and possible even are all criminals. Lots of the comments that readers wrote under the article made fun of the man suggesting that he was disgusting and revolting. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1262992/George-Jolicur-The-43-stone-man-fat-lock-up.html
3) Another article in the Daily Mail wrote about how if you are friends with an overweight person, you may end up overweight yourself! The article might suggest to a reader that being friends with overweight people is not a good idea, and may lead to overweight people having less friends. It represents overweight friends as being dangerous for your health. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1038402/Why-fat-friend-make-fat-well.html
Section 2 - Film
There dont seem to be many overweight characters in films which may suggest that overweight people are not "good enough" to be in films. However I have found a few examples to analyse.
1) Hagrid from Harry Potter - Hagrid is a giant, towering above everyone else and he is one of the only giants in the series of films. He doesnt have a family and has very few friends of his own age. This might signify that overweight people are lonely people with not many friends.
He is often dressed in quite dirty, torn clothing (see the picture below). His bear and hair are messy and long and this might suggest that over weight people are unable to keep clean or look good.
He works as a groundskeeper which involves him doing handy work. This might suggest that overweight people are best suited to manual labour / lower class jobs and that they are not able to be more successful or powerful and do jobs like teaching or office work.
He often makes big mistakes that put other people in danger. For example he buys a dangerous 3 headed dog, a fire breathing dragon, and even a man eating spider and keeps them around the school. This might signify that overweight people are not very clever and often make mistakes.
1) Hagrid from Harry Potter - Hagrid is a giant, towering above everyone else and he is one of the only giants in the series of films. He doesnt have a family and has very few friends of his own age. This might signify that overweight people are lonely people with not many friends.
He is often dressed in quite dirty, torn clothing (see the picture below). His bear and hair are messy and long and this might suggest that over weight people are unable to keep clean or look good.
He works as a groundskeeper which involves him doing handy work. This might suggest that overweight people are best suited to manual labour / lower class jobs and that they are not able to be more successful or powerful and do jobs like teaching or office work.
He often makes big mistakes that put other people in danger. For example he buys a dangerous 3 headed dog, a fire breathing dragon, and even a man eating spider and keeps them around the school. This might signify that overweight people are not very clever and often make mistakes.
He too spends a lot of time in the pub, drinking large amounts of alcohol which might signify that overweight people are often drunks as well.
2) Shrek - Shrek is an ogre, large, and ugly, and he lives on his own in a swamp with no family or friends. Everyone is scared of him and wont come near him. This might signify that overweight people are lonely and no one will love them.
He does disgusting things like pick his ear wax out, and have mud baths which might suggest that overweight people have bad habits that might be gross.
He can be very rude to people, and doesnt really understand social situations. For example he gets annoyed with donkey all the time, argues with Princess Fiona about how he is not a prince or a knight etc This might signify that overweight people are rude and agressive and can't communicate well with others.
3) Chunk from The Goonies - Chunk is an overweight boy who desperately wants to have friends. In the movie he struggles to fit in and the other boys bully him and laugh at him. They force him to do stupid dances and dares so he can join in. This might signify that overweight people are lonely and friendless and targets for bullies.
Chunk is obessed with food and in the film he eats a lot of ice-cream and pizza. This again suggests overweight people are all food obsessed. 
Chunk and his friends go on a hunt for treasure but when they get to a trapdoor he can't fit through it and so he gets left behind. The others go on to find the treasure and defeat the villains. This might signify that overweight people can't be the heroes of a film and will never be successful.
2) Shrek - Shrek is an ogre, large, and ugly, and he lives on his own in a swamp with no family or friends. Everyone is scared of him and wont come near him. This might signify that overweight people are lonely and no one will love them.
He does disgusting things like pick his ear wax out, and have mud baths which might suggest that overweight people have bad habits that might be gross.
He can be very rude to people, and doesnt really understand social situations. For example he gets annoyed with donkey all the time, argues with Princess Fiona about how he is not a prince or a knight etc This might signify that overweight people are rude and agressive and can't communicate well with others.
3) Chunk from The Goonies - Chunk is an overweight boy who desperately wants to have friends. In the movie he struggles to fit in and the other boys bully him and laugh at him. They force him to do stupid dances and dares so he can join in. This might signify that overweight people are lonely and friendless and targets for bullies.
Chunk is obessed with food and in the film he eats a lot of ice-cream and pizza. This again suggests overweight people are all food obsessed. Chunk and his friends go on a hunt for treasure but when they get to a trapdoor he can't fit through it and so he gets left behind. The others go on to find the treasure and defeat the villains. This might signify that overweight people can't be the heroes of a film and will never be successful.
Section 1 - Television
There are lots of characters on TV that are overweight. For example:
1) Heather on Eastenders - She is often shown as being lazy and stupid. She is also represented as being funny which signifies that we often think fat people should be laughed at. She is shown as being weak because she has asthma and is often bullied by other characters such as Shirley. In the show she fell in love with a character called Minty but he didnt like her back which signifies that overweight people will find it hard to find a boyfriend or girlfriend.
1) Heather on Eastenders - She is often shown as being lazy and stupid. She is also represented as being funny which signifies that we often think fat people should be laughed at. She is shown as being weak because she has asthma and is often bullied by other characters such as Shirley. In the show she fell in love with a character called Minty but he didnt like her back which signifies that overweight people will find it hard to find a boyfriend or girlfriend.
In another storyline two teenagers pretend to be a man on the internet and con her into thinking this man likes her. They laugh at her when she falls for it and this again signifies that overweight people are unable to be loved properly, and they are funny. She often wears very bright colours which might signify that overweight people are "jolly" but her clothes are also very unfashionable
In the show she works in the launderette which might signify that overweight people might only be able to get low paid jobs doing things like cleaning and might suggest to the audience that she is not very intelligent.
2) Homer Simpson - Homer is often shown eating doughnuts which signifies that overweight people are always eating sugary foods. He also consumes a lot of beer which might suggest to an audience that overweight people also drink a lot.
His storylines often revolve around him making mistakes at work or being fired by Mr Burns. He has caused nucleur accidents and often messes up his job. This signifies that overweight people might not be very good at working or might be unintelligent or incapable.
Homer is not a very good dad as he can't control his son Bart, and often insults his children, forgets their birthdays and fails to support them as he is too wrapped up in his own life. This might signify that overweight people do not make good parents.3) Smithy from Gavin & Stacey - Smithy is a comical character in the show, often saying silly things or making jokes, again suggesting that overweight people are always funny or something to be laughed at.
Just like Homer Simpson he loves drinking beer and eating fatty foods like pizza which might suggest to the audience that all overweight people eat and drink far too much.
Introduction
I have decided to research the way overweight people are represented in the media. I have chosen to do this because I never used to be overweight until i suffered a sports injury and since then I have noticed that overweight people are often shown in a really bad way in the media. It makes me angry that they judge people who are overweight, and I want to see if they are shown badly in all forms of media other than the ones I already know about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)