Comments on: Big, Sloppy Kisses for Daniel Engber, and Some Other Stuff

By: Savagewoman

Savagewoman — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:02:56 +0000

Commenting on an old thread, which is annoying I know, but I canot help it… I think it’s actually the Bursar in Reaper Man who thinks he’s anorexic because he sees a fat man in the mirror. Who is actually the Archchancellor, shouting at him.

Archcahncellor Ridcully is actually a good fat-positive character, because he’s a fat person who is very active.

By: mels

mels — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:30:41 +0000

“…I don’t assume fat people can’t be anorexic?”

actually… you can be heavy and have an eating disorder, but technically you can’t be overweight and anorexic. one of the diagnostic criteria for anorexia is life-threatening weight loss: “refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height (eg, weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight less than 85% of that expected…).”

and yeah, we can argue about what a “minimally normal weight” is, but i think the intent is pretty clear. i think it’s to separate cases of disordered eating based on whether physical health is severely compromised, because that has an effect on treatment.

By: Maia

Maia — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:02:06 +0000

The article reads like the author must have been in the “fatosphere” once in his life.

By: Tapetum

Tapetum — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:36:06 +0000

octopod – I was reading this whole comment thread thinking “Is nobody going to mention Monstrous Regiment? I’m going to, if they don’t.”

I like Terry Pratchett in spurts – I’ll read two or three books in a row, and then be tired of him for a while – but I have endless love for Monstrous Regiment.

By: octopod

octopod — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:39:57 +0000

Terry Pratchett writes female characters such that they’re real people, and you aren’t constantly being clobbered over the head with LOOK ITS A GURL. This alone makes him orders of magnitude better than most fantasy writers.

Anyone mentioned “Monstrous Regiment” yet? So many awesome characters there. (Sergeant Jackrum FTW.)

By: Wish

Wish — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:16:01 +0000

Aw man, I leave and it becomes a Terry Pratchett love fest! *strokes her entire Discworld collection*

By: Medea

Medea — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:48:29 +0000

Nomie, there’s a similar, if slower, loss observed with partial gravity (See NASA’s Mars Gravity Biosatellite); and a lot of speculation that anything other than EXACT surface-of-the-Earth gravity would produce significant bone density deterioration (there’s some interesting research with high-altitude and frequent-flyer populations).

Rationalizing WALL-E’s aesthetic choice of blob-people with that data is probably about as convincing as rationalizing Star Trek’s pseudoscientific warp drive with putative LHC research; but bone loss in WALL-E’s artificial gravity is not unreasonable. Wrong in many senses of the word, perhaps (uncalled for, sketchy, a stretch, a blind, a rationalization); but not unreasonable.

By: Nomie

Nomie — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:12:50 +0000

Why is there bone loss, though? Why the microgravity handwaving? Wall-E and Eve move in exactly the same way on earth as they do on the Axiom. The NASA issue has to do with zero-gravity environments, not fake-gravity. There was no reason for them to be fat, boneless blobs.

Kate, thanks for linking this article. I actually posted it on my personal livejournal in hopes that some of my friends will read it and maybe get why I am upset by this movie.

By: Tiana

Tiana — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:57:04 +0000

Oh, and Good Omens is one of my favourite books, too. I love Neil Gaiman in general, but the sheer amount of Pratchett books out there has sort of turned me off them since I have no idea where to start and I'm afraid that if I ever read one, I'd want all the other as well and that would get very expensive.

By: Tiana

Tiana — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:51:14 +0000

To be honest, from all the reviews I’ve read so far I just can’t imagine how they could have avoided making the humans look fat. It seems to be a logical consequence if that stuff about bone loss is true. Also, why not? They’re probably more comfortable in the hover chairs than boneless thin people would have been. And definitely better than jelly blobs with eyes. I also like that they all look more or less the same – except for the racial differences of course, which is the only aspect that I disagree with. I might watch it if the local cinema ever decides to show it.