Pop Culture
Weight Loss & Diet Details
Various stereotypes of obese people has found its way into an expression of popular culture. A common stereotype is the obese character who has a warm personality and reliable, but is also the common stereotype of the vicious thug and obese (as Dudley Dursley in the series of Harry Potter books, Nelson Muntz from The Simpsons ).
The gluttony and
obesity together are commonly represented in works of fiction. In cartoons,
obesity is often used for comic effect, with fat cartoon characters (such as
Porky Pig,) had to slip through tight spaces often being stuck or even
exploding.
A more unusual example of obesity-related humor is Bustopher Jones, the poem by
T. S. Eliot. Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town in his book Old Possum's Book
of Practical Cats, and in the musical Cats, who became famous for being a
regular visitor to many gentlemen's clubs. Due to their constant lunch at the
club, he is extremely fat, being described by others as a "25 pounds ...
and he is gaining weight every day."
Another popular character was
It can be argued that this representation in popular culture and has very
commonly perceived stereotypes, damaging self-esteem of obese people. On the
other hand, obesity is often associated with positive characteristics such as
humor (the stereotype of the happy fat man like Santa Claus) and some people are
more sexually attracted to obese people than thin people.