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It makes public spectacle of acceptable targets of bullying. People laugh at them safely at home without facing consequences.
That's actually weird, because I'm always thinking "wow, look how far they came! awesome work!" which is the opposite mindset.
Look how far they came when they had access to social supports and the high quality food we deny to the poor - it's trying to shift the narrative from societal issues to personal responsibility... "look how easy it is - you too could lose hundreds of pounds if you got off your lazy ass" without regard to the fact that the personal trainers and dieticians are out of reach for normal people.
Look at billionaires if you want the real proof - Jeff Bezos hasn't always looked like Vin Diesel, old pictures of Elon Musk are an amazing contrast, ditto for Gates - honestly Zuckerberg seems to be the exception here because martial arts a life long hobby of his... these are all people who already had a shit ton of money but even they struggled before they had a team dedicated to their body.
we deny to the poor
I see this a lot, but unless you're talking about free range organic stuff, bulk commodity foods like rice and black beans are among the cheapest yet most filling. What's the reason they're not more common in these situations?
Believe it or not, they aren't always available. Seriously. Well, not available and in good state.
If you go to some places, usually "bad" areas in cities and very rural small towns (or just rural without any town at all), you end up tempting relying on single source for food. It might be something as relatively useful as a proper bodega, but it can be a gas station instead. Even if the place does stock those staples, they will sit there until they get sold, or get so far past the "sell by" or "best by" date that the owner finally throws them away. So you can go in looking for that stuff, and then it's so damn old that it doesn't cook right.
Even out here in the mountains, where you can usually have a small garden, you run into serious issues obtaining other staples to make a complete food source, much less make food be more than just fuel, which can be soul crushing and lead to disordered eating on its own when people do run into a chance to splurge.
Food deserts are a thing, and they drive malnutrition as well as obesity.
That level of scarcity is way more common than people think for those living under the poverty line. And even that assumes that the individuals can cook. You've got the disabled that may not be able to, you've got people that don't how how. Even when that isn't in play, you can run into shitty apartments/rentals that make it difficult to cook no matter what. Places where a stove can be out of order for months without being fixed or replaced, and likely replaced with something that doesn't work right.
Beyond that, why the fuck is the assumption that the people have been given any kind of nutrition education to know what they can buy that's healthy? Why is it assumed that living on beans and rice is a good state of being?
It's real easy for those of us that have had the privilege of good nutritional education to assume all kinds of things, but that doesn't make the assumptions correct
Btw, that got ranty at the end, it wasn't directed at you, it's the situation that's the infuriating thing.
They're bland and people want to enjoy life - rice and beans is good enough to support life (but stingy in some nutrients) but people want to enjoy food.
They’re quite tasty actually with a bit of spices and seasonings
I think some of us experience food drastically differently. I would die inside if I worked a sixty hour week and came home to the same food every night - food is an important luxury for me (and I'm not even talking about high end Michelin star food). I think it's extremely depressing to imagine a life where I put my nose to the grindstone and just exist until it ends. Rice and beans can form a good basis for stretching a good cuisine - but if that's the only way you can afford to be healthy most people aren't going to go for it.
That’s very true but “bland” means it’s lacking in flavor, not that it’s repetitive.
Personally I really enjoy good food too, but beans and rice are fine as far as flavor. And there’s plenty of other meals based on basic staples that can add variety.
One reason is the more you're forced to work, the less energy, and, more importantly, time you have for preparing healthy meals. Therefore you're more likely to go with preprocessed, prepackaged meals or straight fast food which will make you fat fast.
I've got a relatively cushy job and cook my own, relatively healthy meals but even I find myself going for that store-bought pizza when I have a particularly busy week.
Moreover, unhealthy, preprocessed meals are basically drugs in terms of the dopamine hit, so you're more likely to go for them if your life sucks and you're sad about it.
Add to that the lack of education on healthy eating, which I'd bet is easier to come by when you're at least middle class and bam, you're a fat poor person.
Just because that is how you enjoy the show doesn't mean everyone is the same way.
Because they are exploitative trash.
I remember when TV channels like TLC used to air educational content (The Learning Channel was actually an appropriate name). It has since morphed into a channel that airs "lets gawk at these people who aren't like us" content. It's no longer educational.
So now they are The Leering Channel.
I was SO surprised to find that out about TLC. I have only ever associated them with shows like say yes to the dress, cake boss and toddlers and tiaras.
What typ of shows did they used to air?
You remember Connections, with James Burke?
John Romer/Roemer, whatever, his docu-series on Egypt?
That kind of thing.
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It's fat shaming for public amusement. It's a thoroughly awful concept from top to bottom... it doesn't offer advice for healthy weightloss or encourage a healthy life style... it's just making a spectacle of something people struggle with.
It comes from an entirely negative place.
These are television shows that exploit people who have the mental illnesses which result in obesity.
You wouldn't take a bunch of people with clinical depression and make a show called "smile, ya dipshit" about them.
Biggest loser is centered around the idea that losing weight is the answer to people's problems when it's not.
The one where they have these severely ill people living their lives is just so others can watch, leer, and feel quietly superior that "at least I'm not those people".
They are just exploitative, harmful garbage.
Introducing our newest reality show, "Smile, Ya Dipshit." It's the uplifting tale of everyday depressed individuals as they battle their way through life while we prod and cajole them to find that inner happiness within themselves. Watch as these brave contestants attempt to smile against all odds, as our team of experts forces them into stressful situations meant to inspire joy. Will these victims of melancholy be able to overcome their debilitating emotions, or will the crushing weight of their sadness prove too much? Join us every week to witness the struggles and triumphs of those striving to become happier, one forced grin at a time. So sit back and enjoy the rollercoaster ride that is "Smile, Ya Dipshit!"
forced to spill entire history of childhood SA and is depicted to have it resolved after brief pep talk with coach
TBL is a show that proves if you have a nutritionist, personal trainer, and heavily restricted diet you can lose a lot of weight really quickly. It's still somewhat dangerous to do that, and almost guaranteed to not lead to long term success. People almost killing themselves to massive applause and congratulations isn't actually a good thing.
Even with that supervision, the show encourages unhealthy practices like dehydration to meet a weight goal
True. They essentially lived on water and vitamins while on the show.
So I was fat (really fat, not chubby)and had a very good financial situation before COVID, so I hired a personal trainer, went to the most tech gym, went to the same nutritionist as the bodybuilding team , and the "star" dermatologist (with all her expensive treatments) No joke, in 1 year I was fitness and beautiful. You wouldn't believe. When Covid hit I got fat again but now I know, nobody is really ugly, you are only poor. If you have money you can be whoever you want in the time frame that you want
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The correlation between weight and health is a lot murkier than media in general, and these shows in particular, represent. It's much more reliable to measure blood and vitals, such as cholesterol and blood pressure, to establish wellbeing and risk.
Rapid changes in weight tho, in either direction, are well established for having permanent harmful effects. It also tends to make it more difficult to maintain weight loss, and more likely someone actually increases in weight over time.
These shows make it seem like losing weight at any cost is desirable, and don't put focus on the actually accurate metrics of wellbeing, while ignoring the negative long term impacts of rapid weight loss. It's a very warped view of health that focuses on an aesthetic feature.
I strongly recommend giving this podcast a try if you want more analysis: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biggest-loser/id1535408667?i=1000505824482
Shedding weight fast is a great method for excess skin that requires cosmetic surgery to remove. Slowly losing weight can reduce but not eliminate the requirements for surgery.
Good friend of mine lost almost half his body weight in around 4 years, his arms, legs are all OK but his stomach area needs some work. I can't imagine the hardship people "competing" on the biggest loser need to go through once the season is over.
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Spot on comment. "But, but, but obesity" Yeah correlation is not causation, when will people get off of the better than thou train.
Being healthy is more than just how much people weight and it baffles me that so many comments here are tone deaf about how it is not as easy as CICO and criticize people who live in larger bodies.
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why the fuck would you watch something like this
Just FYI, please don't downvote this question into oblivion... it may be obvious to you, but I think it's asked in good faith.
We're in NoStupidQuestions and this is a legitimate question someone might be afraid to ask.
It's vulnerable people that the general people laugh, mock and say "glad that's not me".
TLC is the new Jerry Springer only washed through a pseudo documentary style. There is nothing educational or informative about watching morbidly obese people ignore doctors and receive toxic "advice" from amateur fitness trainers.
Watch what you like, but understand that it's junk food trash TV. I enjoy trash like love is blind, so I'm no better, but at least that's affluent conventionally attractive people harassing each other. Not gawking at the vulnerable and suffering.
When I was more active in ED spaces, shows like these were really popular. I watched a lot of Supersize v Superskinny but didn't really bother with the others.
Came from a starved mindset where I so obsessed with food and weight that I only wanted to watch stuff that related directly to food and weight.
There was also discussion in ED spaces I was in about how the stuff that these shows were doing was unhealthy and fucked up but had been deemed entertainment and therefore permissable. But us doing similar stuff was (rightfully) seen as fucked up.
I want to stress that no one in the communities I was in was ever judging the contestants. The only people we were viewing negatively were the producers who were putting people in danger and also like, ourselves.
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Personally I think the contestants are forced to try way too hard. They get taught that extreme suffering is a necessary consequence of losing weight. Of course they are going to stop trying and rebound once their part in the contract is done. They don't know how to live a lifestyle that effortlessly maintains their weight.
most people don't like trash tv, most reality tv are trash tv. both of the show you mention are trash tv.
Some people are sick of reality shows; others aren't.
I wish there was an episode called, "So, I Married a Snacks Murderer."
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this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2024
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