Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.04.2006, Blaðsíða 8

Huge Hollywood money-makers
like Big Momma’s House and The
Nutty Professor, both so popular
that they had sequels, tell us that fat
comedy works. Big Momma’s enor-
mous, jiggling bottom covered in
cellulite is actually the main focus of
the trailer for Big Momma’s House
2. Eddie Murphy was considered so
hilarious in a fat-suit, he was multi-
plied in The Klumps (sequel to The
Nutty Professor) into many different
characters who were grossly obese,
excluding the granny who got to be
very old and horny instead
Obviously, a lot of viewers find
fat people screamingly funny. In
fact, Fat Actress, a sitcom riddled
with fat jokes broke the record on
American cable TV channel Show-
time for most viewers on the open-
ing episode of a show. The world
of cartoons is no different. Homer
Simpson of The Simpsons and Peter
Griffin of Family Guy are examples
of the funny fat guy, and even
South Park has its token fat kid. In
spite of all this evidence suggest-
ing that the fatter the funnier, it is
still considered rude and uncivilised
to make fun of people who have a
large frame. On a personal basis,
that is. It is quite all right to laugh at
fictional characters, but not real-life
fat people. You don’t see pictures
Queen Latifah in the papers with
the caption “What a tub of lard!”
That would be plain distasteful.
When it comes to being thin, the
tables are turned. Being thin isn’t
funny in showbiz. You don’t see
Skinny Momma’s House or The
Chickenlegs at the movies. On a
personal basis, however, it’s okay to
make fun of skinny people. Pa-
parazzi pictures of waif-like actresses
regularly appear in tabloids, followed
with a humorous caption like “Eat a
sandwich, Lindsay!” or “If she stands
sideways, Lara Flynn Boyle disap-
pears!” These very same tabloids
also suggest regularly that both of
the aforementioned actresses suffer
from anorexia, which happens to be
the deadliest of all mental illnesses.
Imagine a picture of Ronald Reagan,
who suffered from Alzheimer’s, with
a random car in the background.
Very few tabloids would sink as low
as to print the caption “That’s not
yours, Ronald. Don’t you remem-
ber what your car looks like?” For
some strange reason, some illnesses,
however deadly they may be, are
considered safe joking material,
while others aren’t.
I recently wrote and staged a play
in which the leading lady weighs
approximately 200 kilos because she
suffers from compulsive binge-eat-
ing, which is classified as an eating
disorder. The fat lady in my script
wasn’t written as a comedic role,
but a complex, tragic role. Much
to my surprise, the audience roared
with laughter when the leading lady
of my play carried out the simplest
of tasks, such as walking, eating or
carrying on a conversation with her
lover. Even in scenes that would
have been dramatic and disturbing
had they revolved around a thin
character, people laughed at the
fat lady. One critic even suggested
that the play’s message is that it’s
acceptable to make fun of fat people.
I am still clueless as to why today’s
audience finds fat hilarious even
under tragic circumstances, and how
anyone could think that I was send-
ing out that message by writing this
play.
In my opinion, a sense of
humour is one of the most impor-
tant things in life. We ought to be
able to recognise the absurdities
of being human, including poking
fun at our bodies. Although I don’t
find body-type jokes funny myself,
I understand their importance in
taking ourselves less seriously. After
all, very few people look like Calvin
Klein models. It’s the hypocrisy re-
garding what’s funny and what’s not
that gets me. Out of all the things
that make us laughable, is simply
being fat reason enough?
The Fatter,
the Funnier?
a column by þórdís elva
þorvaldsdóttir bachmann
“The fat lady in my script wasn’t written as
a comedic role, but a complex, tragic role.
Much to my surprise, the audience roared
with laughter when the leading lady of my
play carried out the simplest of tasks…”
“I am still clueless as to why today’s audi-
ence finds fat hilarious even under tragic
circumstances…”
opinion
Hvanneyri • 311 Borgarnes • s. 433 5000 • www.lbhi.is
Landbúna›arháskóli Íslands
Kynntu flér námslei›ir vi› LBHÍ,
vi› bjó›um grunn a› framtí›.
www.lbhi.is
Umhverfisskipulag (landslagsarkitektúr)
Búvísindi /gar›yrkja
Náttúru- og umhverfisfræ›i
Skógfræ›i og landgræ›sla
Nám í LBHÍ – grunnur a› framtí›