Learn
lessons from ‘The 750-pound Man’ show
Brigid
McGuire
As I was watching television the other night, I happened to come across the
TLC channel, which I would more like to call the “Train Wreck Channel.” The
three programs on that night were “The 750-pound Man,” “The
Half-Ton Man” and “Woman with Half a Body.” These were all
documentary-type programs that ran for an hour each and followed the life of
an individual.
I am just amazed we are still fascinated with the concept of a freak show and
would want to make these people’s lives an entertainment spectacle. I’ll
admit I watched these shows, but after seeing a 750-pound man eat himself to
death, I really can’t find any real value in these shows. That man hadn’t
walked in over five years and was totally dependent on his wife to take care
of him.
Why would people keep feeding a morbidly obese person’s addiction if
they loved them? It’s not like the morbidly obese person can get up and
go to the fridge; he’s stuck in a bed and can’t even roll over
to scratch his own back.
We refuse to get out of cars for lunch, prescription drugs and our morning
coffee. For goodness sake, God gave us legs to walk, people, not to eat our
brains out until we really lose that ability.
I do not have any tolerance for morbidly obese people. The fact that we would
exploit their sad lives for entertainment is disgusting. Instead of creating
better healthcare and teaching our children better eating habits in schools,
we instead watch them blow up and stick them on the big screen for all to watch.
We really are a bunch of fat Americans.
During “The Half-Ton Man,” he had to have a wall knocked down in
his house so he could be taken to a hospital to lose the weight. The documentary
said his skin had stretched to maximum capacity and his body was leaking fluids
all over the bed. It was mind-numbing and stomach-retching.
The “Woman with Half a Body” was a lot more interesting than the
other shows. This story was about a woman overcoming the odds and living her
life without any legs. She was married and, to the amazement of the medical
society, had a baby. She was still deemed a freak, but at least she was born
with her condition and hadn’t eaten herself to the point of no return.
That woman had the same condition as one of the characters from the old horror
film “Freaks.” In that film, the creators didn’t hide their
fascination with people with disabilities under the false name “documentary.” They
showcased many different people, including a man with no arms or legs, a woman
with no arms and a pair of Siamese twins. In today’s society we really
haven’t changed from the days of the 1930s, we have just changed a name.
I know that most overweight people are depressed and to cope with their depression,
they do the one thing that makes them feel better: eat. Then they blame the
state for not paying for their therapy sessions and their crazy medical bills
because they have developed diabetes and high blood pressure.
We cannot just “pass the buck,” people. We need to take control
of our lives and not let ourselves become so unhealthy. We need to learn from
the half-ton man and the 750-pound man. If you become so fat that you live
your life in a bed covered with your own poop, then you have made yourself
the “freak.”
Brigid McGuire is a junior journalism major and the diversions editor of
the Daily Forty-Niner.
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