We write letters....

[tikistitch]

Excerpt of a letter to Michael Moore from Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA:

Although we think that your film could actually help reform America’s sorely inadequate health care system, there’s an elephant in the room, and it is you. With all due respect, no one can help but notice that a weighty health issue is affecting you personally.

(We refuse to give 'em a link--go google it, if you must.)

Dear Ingrid:

With all due respect, there's an ignorant, self-righteous bitch in the room, and it's you.

XOXOXO

--tiki

Comments

[twotone]

My husband and I got our first newspaper in months while staying at a hotel this weekend, and I was rather disheartened by a political cartoon caricaturing Michael Moore as a grossly obese slovenly junkfood addict, with some caption like "WHO'S THE REAL SICKO".

It makes me sad and a little angry when people take cheapshots like that rather than actually deal with/refute/think about the issues he brings up. It makes me even sadder to think there are some people out there who WILL be distracted by the lowbrow "HAW HAW HE IS FAT AND UGLY" comments. :/

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

Why do they have to perpetuate the silly fat = unhealthy (and thin = virtuous) stereotype, when there's no good evidence? I actually used to work for an unapologetically chubby Australian vegetarian, who cheerily noted that, "I'm proof positive one can adopt a vegetarian lifestyle and still live well!"

[twotone]

I think part of it must be a quasi-religious belief that all people must sow what they reap. So if someone is fat, it must be because they are lazy and eat-y (and since they've got both sloth AND gluttony covered, who knows what other sins they might be engaged in?!). It might also be an issue of classism, where sloth and gluttony USED to be the domain of the idle rich... although nowadays, economic pressures may mean that you have to have a certain amount of capital to be able to afford to eat healthy.

I was a little saddened when one of the books I was reading had a character whose only characterization was "fatty fatty fat omg she is fat and just keeps eating always talking with mouth full fat fat fat". I don't require that all chubby people be characterized as saints... I just wish the author had been able to avoid the temptation to make her throwaway characters one-dimensional.

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

It might also be an issue of classism, where sloth and gluttony USED to be the domain of the idle rich... although nowadays, economic pressures may mean that you have to have a certain amount of capital to be able to afford to eat healthy.

*nods* I think you're right, there are still elements of classism, since it's well known that, at least in the US during the last century, poorer people tend to be fatter.

I'm probably overly sensitive to this right now, since we're dieting. And, jeebus, it's a *lot* of work. I mean, no wonder it's the first thing under the bus for us when we get busy or stressed. I bet if Michael Moore took a 2-year sabbatical, and that's ALL he thought about, he could take off some weight, but right now, he's got more important things to do. I suspect that's the deal with Oprah: her coaches and personal trainers and chefs help her get down, and then she's like, "DAMN, I've gotta produce a talk show!!"

I was a little saddened when one of the books I was reading had a character whose only characterization was "fatty fatty fat omg she is fat and just keeps eating always talking with mouth full fat fat fat".

Have you ever read the original Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew mysteries? They each have hilariously funny comedy fat sidekicks. (/snark) I wasn't able to read them as a kid for that reason--it's like they have a Steppin Fetchit friend, or some other horrible stereotype.

[twotone]

YES, I remember those! I think they might have slimmed down Chunky Sidekick in the 90s updating of Nancy Drew (the Nancy Drew Casefiles), or maybe made a point of talking about how she was totally gorgeous even if chubby and should worry about her weight less... but yeah. My beloved Three Investigators mysteries tried to mix things up a bit by having their Chubby Guy also be the eccentric genius, but still.

One of the kids' cartoons I enjoy (Kids Next Door) has a chubby kid who, if I remember correctly, is the resident inventor/dork. My recollection is that they don't make much of an issue about him being overweight... they more take issue with his bad puns. It still sucks that the token geek is also the token fat guy/foodie guy, but it's some kind of progress, I guess.

[mmymoon.livejournal.com]

I am always put in mind of the scene from the Producers: "You... .... fat FATTY!"

It's like my favorite ironic insult, now. I probably shouldn't allow myself to have ironic insults, but there ya go.

I have to confess, I was too much of a little nineties-kid to read the original Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, etc. I mean, I grew up in the MIDDLE of the Captain Planet eco-PC-friendly era... I understood about historical context and all, but those books always provoked a deep level "Wait, WHAT?" reaction from me. WAS THE PAST REALLY THAT... BIZARRE? EEEK.

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

Michael's beer gut is driving up prescription drug prices!

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

Forget seniors. CHICKENS ARE IN DANGER!

[yarol-2075.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, and as if being thin is good for you if you have no muscle tone or mass. *snort* I'm considered one of the chunkier women in my office, but I'm the only one who has the strength and endurance to carry fifty pound boxes up two flights of stairs (without any huffing and puffing) on a regular basis. Yet NONE of the thin women can even lift one of the boxes.

I worked in an university health and physical fitness office during college, and one of the primary things the researchers kept coming back to is that it is entirely possible to be fat & fit, and thin & severly unfit.

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

I worked in an university health and physical fitness office during college, and one of the primary things the researchers kept coming back to is that it is entirely possible to be fat & fit, and thin & severly unfit.

*nods* And there's good evidence that people who are slightly overweight actually do better health and longevity-wise. There's just too many people--INCLUDING, sadly, some researchers--who have it lodged in their brains that fat = unhealthy and won't let go.

[mmymoon.livejournal.com]

Heh, I'm no big fan of Michael Moore -- which isn't entirely based on my oppositional politics so much as his cinematography; I've honestly hated his filmmaking since Roger & Me, see, I WAS AN ART STUDENT, I TOOK CINEMA STUDIES AND KNEW WHO HE WAS BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE -- ahem, but god, PETA seems to be all about the "omg meat eaters = fatties = doom." (On the other hand, it's fanatics bashing the fanatics, so I can't get too worked with sympathy for him, personally. Because I detest him.)

Penn and Teller (although I realize their TV-making is just as biased) gleefully mocked the whole meat-eating-fatty versus rail-thin-vegan thing on their show on PETA. Meanwhile, my best friend gained 20 pounds in her first two years of veganism. She's since gained about 20 more. :P

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

I've not been the biggest PETA fan since I did Evil Animal Research in grad school. Sad thing is, I agree with a lot of their points, but I find them, personally, quite scary and fanatical.

It's a teensy bit sad reading the comments on the letter on the PETA web page. Most are from True Believers. But there's a few chubby vegetarians, and they sound like they've been slapped.

Penn and Teller (although I realize their TV-making is just as biased) gleefully mocked the whole meat-eating-fatty versus rail-thin-vegan thing on their show on PETA. Meanwhile, my best friend gained 20 pounds in her first two years of veganism. She's since gained about 20 more. :P

I hadn't heard of that show! I'll have to check it out. One of my really nice bosses was a gleefully chunky vegetarian. At one point, he decided to lose weight, so went on a NON-vegetarian diet provided by a research project at the U.

[mmymoon.livejournal.com]

Ooo, you are ebil. And going to hell. And stuff. I BET YOU'RE ALSO FAT.

(jk^100!!!)

YeaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaah... I've been in undergrad more recently than you, and lemme tell ya, the True Believers are frightening. I tried to engage an otherwise lively and clever girl in conversation about farming (this is a semi-rural area, there's lots of farmers and hippie-farm-happy-homesteading movements) and she had basically no opinion but "NO EVIL."

It's on Bullshit -- which, if you haven't seen, is really delightful. It's not like I agree with all of their points (I being a pretty devoted eco-brat) but it's so refreshing to see something on American television that celebrates scientific method and being a fatty... and uh... throws bibles into the air and shoots them... la la la, it's fun show, la la la...

Mwahahaha! My friend always wants a chubby veg* club; perhaps they can found one.... (She, rather sensibly, points out that eating soy ice cream twice a day, versus, say, grilled chicken salads may be the culprit, buuuuuut.)

[mmymoon.livejournal.com]

NO, COMMA, EVIL! even.

(I just got my internet back after what, practically a month? I'm convulsing while I type. WHEE!)

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

It's on Bullshit -- which, if you haven't seen, is really delightful. It's not like I agree with all of their points (I being a pretty devoted eco-brat) but it's so refreshing to see something on American television that celebrates scientific method and being a fatty... and uh... throws bibles into the air and shoots them... la la la, it's fun show, la la la...

Found it. Wow, Pamelyn Ferdin--she used to be an obnoxious child actor. And now she's an obnoxious adult!!

[mmymoon.livejournal.com]

Wheee!

Again, please forgive my general illiteracy today. But yeah! I can't say I'm devoted to all of their viewpoints, but it's fun. The episode on bottled water (that is: yuppie pretenses) is also worth watching for rampant hilarity.

[mmymoon.livejournal.com]

(It's so complex... I just strongly dislike MM -- I know there are arguments to be made that he airs issues the culture would ignore, but I just can't bring myself to believe that he airs them well. Similarly, PETA is one of the few vocal foundations that does anything for primate rights... but uh, they're so vocal that they're kind of ridiculous, and therefore everyone culturally rolls their eyes at them. Blegh.

I just think it's hilarious that of my friends, the magical healthy skinny vegan food has caused lots of poundage. :P)

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

I love Michael Moore.

I would invite him over for BBQ any time.

[mmymoon.livejournal.com]

*snerk*