MovieChat Forums > Hairspray (2007) Discussion > Obesity, unlike race, both CAN and SHOUL...

Obesity, unlike race, both CAN and SHOULD be changed !

posted 13 years ago by JustMammal
26 replies | jump to latest

I am OK with people being different, I am NOT OK when other people's choices costing me money (through the skyrocketed healthcare costs). I am not saying it's easy to stay lean, and that metabolism is not greatly affected by ones genes, however it can be done.

Some people, myself including, put a great effort to stay bellow 25 BMI, and due to their body complexion & genes, they still have problems losing enough weight & stop being overweight. However, at least they put a true effort into this, they check news and upon hearing that drinking sugary soda pop (and even juices) is a speedy way to gain weight, and they avoid it. They also steer away from ice-cream & pies for deserts, & instead, for deserts, start eating fruits, low-fat yogurt & high-fiber cereals.

Then there are people, like my obese former roommate. He complained that fat people are discriminated against, & that he can't do anything about it due to his genes. However, then he buys cases upon cases of classic coke. I ask him, why can't he at least buy diet variety, he answers that sugar substitute is harmful for the health. And this may be true, but before that sugar substitute would harm him, his extreme weight would harm his health ten times over! Besides, why not drink water, or sugar-free tea instead ?

Anyway, I can sympathize with overweight people, since it may be just their genetic baggage, and while in an ideal world anybody can get fit, with the stressors of the real world, those 10-20 extra pounds may be extremely difficult to loose.

On the other hand, except for perhaps some rare illnesses, any obese person can become merely overweight had they just stop eating those cakes & gulping that coke! And I am not talking about crash diets here, just consistently & permanently putting a reasonable effort to control ones weight !

Finally, big may be beautiful to some people, but it's certainly not pretty to the taxpayer who has to foot their BIG healthcare bill !

[–] CaptHayfever 13 years ago

To my knowledge, in the USA, the only healthcare bills taxpayers have to foot are government employees (just by nature of the fact that their employer's only source of revenue is taxes), elderly retirees (via Medicare), or people who are too poor to even afford enough food to make them fat (so we're not paying for their obesity-related issues).

[–] JustMammal 13 years ago

Well my fat roomate didn't have insurance and hospital wrote off 20K for his [weight-related] gallbladder removal

[–] CaptHayfever 13 years ago

Then I'll bet you're happy about Obamacare requiring everyone to have health insurance.

[–] liz_morden 13 years ago

Actually, there's no proof that weight or diet are a cause of gallstones or cholecystitis requiring gallbladder removal. I had to have mine removed, and I weigh under 8 stone.

Besides which, in the US, your tax doesn't pay for enough people's healthcare since there are still many people going untreated or losing their homes because on insurance deductibles. In the UK, everyone is entitled to free healthcare and as we're all going to need it sometime, most don't moan about paying for other people.

There are many illnesses and conditions exacerbated by lifestyle factors - what about people who get sick from working in particular construction jobs? I guess they should find a new career and stop costing you cash, right?

Finally, recent research has shown that your fat cells become programmed to keep you at a particular weight,so once you've been overweight its much more difficult to lose it.

Why not stop being so judgemental? Karma has a way of biting you in the ass, you know...

[–] JustMammal 13 years ago

I fully support universal healthcare, though I don't think it's wise to pay millions of taxpayer's money to prolong somebody's life by days like current Medicare laws require (although if somebody has money they can use them to stay alive for as much as they want to)

Regarding weight control, I understand this firsthand, how difficult is to change it: I am struggling for a long of time to go down from 190lb to 175lb (normal BMI) And I start having high cholesterol & blood pressure because of my weight. But I am not happy about it, & wouldn't want to be accepted as normal.

In construction jobs, if they involve let's say asbestos, we shouldn't blame workers, but companies, that haven't secured safe conditions for their workers. Likewise, we shouldn't just blame "fatties" but the companies implicated in this like McDonalds & other fast food joints.

A bit of social engineering would have gone a long way to eliminated obesity problem. Like, for example I ate this cookies in one sitting that contained 1000 calories. Why? Because they where right by the check-stands where I was standing in line and were on sale for $2. Had they been taxed to let's say one penny per calorie, since they don't have significant nutritional value, I would've thought twice before shelling $12 for those cookies. And how about requiring the retailers to keep cookies in a remote part of the store, so people don't succumb to impulse buying, like I often do?

People, don't have unlimited free will like some think, and like latest studies shows motivations is exhaustible, so the more you have to motivate yourself now, the less of it you'd have left later. So we should make it easier for fat people to eat less, instead of either just blaming or accepting them.

[–] post-orgasmic-mood 13 years ago

I agree with you. Although I am slightly on the overweight side (BMI 28) I worked my ass off last year to drop from a BMI of 33. I noticed once I got into a routine it was incredibly easy to stick to it. Eat less, excerise more!! I got down to a BMI of 27. I am now pregnant and that is my reason for being bigger but as soon as I squeeze junior out, I will be back in the gym. Not only did I look and feel great but I was fit and healthy!

My problem is those really obese people who want to lose weight and take the easy route of a gastric band. I hate that! its almost saying - yeah eat what you want cause this miracle band will make you lose weight without having to put ANY effort in!

Pisses me the fvck off!

I killed Bill

[–] BigFatLou 13 years ago

Absolutely agreed. Obesity should be changed.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] john-tyra 12 years ago

WOW! That's probably the most superficial thing I've ever read in my life!

"Gore isn't scary, sex isn't love, spoofing isn't comedy, and remakes are no fun."

[–] life_getone 13 years ago

Wow i'm glad i'm not a shallow, self obsessed, ass like you are.
Fat people are discriminated against and some times there is nothing they can do because of genes. It's not just about food you idiot! It's a mental and emotional problem.
Most of the time larger people are larger because the have a compulsion problem. Or because they substitute food with love. Do you know how hard it is to feel like you'll never have someone love you because of your weight? It suppose to be about what's on the inside.
Just cause your not comfortable in your own body does not mean you can just pass judgment on other people to make YOU feel better about yourself.
And please whine about your bills to someone who gives a damn! Boo Hoo it's costing you money. Other people pay their bills without complaint, why don't you take a lesson? Millions of people pay their bills everyday and we're suppose to care about little old you?
Get a life you narcissist!

[–] JustMammal 13 years ago

So should we make a movie about how poor smokers are discriminated at work and dating arena? Since for sure, many smokers are as or even more depressed and otherwise mentally ill as obese people. How about alcoholics? Why not make that OK? Again, we shouldn't be willfully mean to obese people, smokers and alcoholics. But is it a good idea to accept these behaviors as OK? And, if obese people can't help themselves, where do we stop? I am sure child molesters are genetically programed to like children, even more than obese people to like food, yet they are more vilified than mass murderers. Mind you I don't compare obese with molesters, just the question of the free will.

[–] life_getone 13 years ago

For a second i thought "how can you compare obesity to child molestation?!", but then you said that you weren't comparing them and i let out a breath.
Don't scare me like that! lol
Sorry for my rude comments before but something about people bashing (sorry i can't think of another word) others just sets me off.
I know that larger people should work out more and try to make a conscious effort to be healthy but i was larger once and the emotional strain of it is very hard to overcome.
For the longest time i thought i was ugly, and not worth anything and i ate to make myself feel better. Then i would hate myself even more for eating all that junk and then eat again. It was a vicious circle that took me years to get over.
So i understand where your coming from, it's just hard to read all of that and not feel extremely offended.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] iam-adolf-hipster 12 years ago

you got too much time on your hands bud. even thinking about obese people in the same line as murderers and molesters (i know you wrote that you are not comparing, but you were thinking). get over it, its not a perfect world and there are bigger issues than obesity in the world. i am 5' 8 and 130 lbs, trying forever to gain weight and unable to do so, just like me people who are overweight i am sure are trying to loose weight and are having a tough time to do so.

[–] mysticnox 13 years ago

How has this trolling thread remained unclosed since it was opened? Welcome to the report button.

[–] JustMammal 13 years ago

Because you can't censor everything you do not agree with. And if you notice many posters agree with me. So, my intent wasn't to offend, but to make people think. Since I disagree with the implications of the movie. But, if some people get offended, well sorry about that, but something will always offend somebody.

[–] john-tyra 12 years ago

Many? There were only like, two.

"Gore isn't scary, sex isn't love, spoofing isn't comedy, and remakes are no fun."

[–] elendil_peredhil 12 years ago

Your obsession with your own weight is duly noted.

Why this is being shared on a Hairpray board I really don;t know.

Tracey may be overweight, but she is also extremely healthy/fit- as evidenced by her dancing.

[–] AndNobodyInAllOfOz 12 years ago

Some people gain weight because of medication they are on or because of a health related issue and some just have bad genes.

Not all overweight people are just people who eat crap 24/7 and don't exercise.

It’s immortality, my darlings