I disagree (but not totally) with many you for a multitude reasons. I'm sick of everyone having to be politically correct, tiptoeing around, trying not to hurt anyone's feelings! Maura, like all of us, is human and she told everyone how she honestly feels about a certain situation. If people disagree with what she's said, they need to give her a counterargument to make her realize how she is wrong instead of just whining about hurt feelings or tossing insults back at her. The real bullies are the people who are telling her things like "you are a terrible person" and "you are just like those bullies who made those gay people commit suicide" or "your face looks like a dog." I think there is a lot of ignorance in her post, but everyone is ignorant about many things and what can always help is the sharing of information. Throwing insults around doesn't help anything, especially when it is obvious that the perpetrator (Maura) did not have such vindictive intentions.
I think that the show "Mike & Molly" is just another dumb sitcom and a total gimmick. Why do we need shows starring specifically fat people? Why can't we NOT put ANY emphasis on weight by having shows with people of ALL SIZES in them and not spotlighting one or the other? There are so many factors that go into a person being fat: genetics, environment, or monetary issues and it is PERFECTLY OKAY as long as a person isn't harming herself, and you cannot tell a person that their fatness is their fault under these circumstances. This is the problem that scholars today are trying to make mainstream (see "Fat Rights" by Anna Kirkland). Being obese is not bad in itself; it depends on the circumstances.
Obesity rates are highest, I believe, among minorities. This is due largely in part to demographics. Many minorities live in poor communities, and eating healthy comes at price, literally. Highly processed, unhealthy foods are the cheapest, and if a provider doesn't want his or her family to go hungry, the cheapest might be the only option. These communities might also not allow for their inhabitants to get any regular exercise--many are unsafe for adults or children to spend much time outdoors, or the communities do not have many recreational centers or amenities, like playgrounds, parks, or sidewalks.
Genetics is also a huge factor in the obesity issue. Can we blame someone for what their genes proscribe? When we see an ugly person do we go "Oh my god, how ugly, I can't believe she let herself get that ugly!" No! That would be terrible! And so it should be for fatness (genetic fatness, that is). People have a natural weight that, if left alone, they will fluctuate around for their entire lifetimes. Some are more prone to gaining weight easily, and some are not. What matters is that one is eating healthy. Don't starve yourself and don't be a glutton. Like Aristotle teaches, let's find the mean between starvation and gluttony and try to follow it.
These issues in the world of fatness, however, do not seem to be the ones that are being portrayed in "Mike and Molly." They are two middle-class white people. They are not poor, they are not cut off from getting any exercise due to their environments, they simply are overeaters. Overeating is unhealthy, no matter if you are fat or skinny, but whatever, do what makes you happy. But, giving fat people a voice in the media and showing them that it is okay to be just the way they are is a good and refreshing message. BUT, I do not think of this sitcom is very helpful to changing the country's view of fat people. Instead of showing people that fatness is not a choice in a lot of cases, this show stars people who are fat because they eat too much. I wouldn't be surprised if this show was funded by the industries that make the most money off of overeating. "Overeaters anonymous"? Please. As a wise character in a movie once said: "What's the answer to 99 out of 100 problems? Money." (Vanilla Sky)
So, Maura does have a point about "Mike and Molly" being stupid show, but it is NOT gross, and her comments about it in that regard were extremely insensitive, yet there is not one ounce of hate in that article. I admire her candor and her humanness and her bravery in posting something that is controversial and not politically correct. She could have worded things differently, but then, would we still be getting a truthful account of her feelings? Would we rather have someone tell us only what we want to hear, what is not hurtful, or have them tell us the truth? (By truth I mean the truth about her own feelings, not the truth about reality.) The only thing a person can do when someone says something hurtful or disagreeable is find out what they know, and if they are ignorant, inform them, and then let them make a decision. Maybe they will change their minds.
