# Feeder: The Play



## Boteroesque Babe (Jun 11, 2006)

Saw an interesting one-act last night at Center Stage on West 21st. Half sweet, half chilling, 100% familiar. It runs twice more this week. From the literature:

_A van speeds across country. Inside, a man tells a tale of a relationship with a woman named Jesse. To whom does he speak? Where is he going? And what will happen when he reaches his destination? This new solo play delves into a dark world based in the fringe fragment of BDS&M (Bondage, Domination, Submission & Masochism) known as "feederism." Mr. Carter crafts an oddly touching, surprisingly funny, dark and twisted tale of passion, revenge and dessert._

http://www.terranovacollective.org/SoloArtsFestival.php#james


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## TheSadeianLinguist (Jun 11, 2006)

That looks fascinating. I'll have to buy a copy of the play.


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## Ned Sonntag (Jun 11, 2006)

So it's all talk & no elbow dimples?


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## SoVerySoft (Jun 11, 2006)

Sounds really interesting. Wish I could see it. Someone should record it and release it on dvd. Actually, they should record the whole Solo Arts Festival - would love to see it.


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## Boteroesque Babe (Jun 11, 2006)

Ned Sonntag said:


> So it's all talk & no elbow dimples?


The elbow dimples are _imagined_.


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## exile in thighville (Jun 13, 2006)

Boteroesque Babe said:


> The elbow dimples are _imagined_.



can't they be pantomimed? if this was on broadway they'd have backup dancers dressed as elbow dimples.


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## The Obstreperous Ms. J (Jun 13, 2006)

I'm going. The curiousity is killing me. I will do a full report as soon as I can.


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## Boteroesque Babe (Jun 13, 2006)

The Obstreperous Ms. J said:


> I'm going. The curiousity is killing me. I will do a full report as soon as I can.


I look forward to hearing what you thought of it, Ms. J. The audience response is nearly as entertaining as what's on stage.


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## The Obstreperous Ms. J (Jun 13, 2006)

I'm biting at the bit just thinking about it.
However, what can you tell me about the seating? I sure hope there are seats with no arm rests otherwise, it will be awful.
All 6' ft and 430 (yep, I gained 10 lbs this past month) will be a pain to squeeze in. 
I hope this performer took into account his audience :shocked:


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## Boteroesque Babe (Jun 13, 2006)

The Obstreperous Ms. J said:


> I hope this performer took into account his audience :shocked:


Actually, I don't think we are his audience. But I believe the seats were folding chairs (this is Off Off Off Broadway). Without arms. My butt spilled over on both sides, and had I faced straight ahead, the folding chair brace thingies on the sides would have cut into me, so I chose a seat against the wall, and sat at a bit of an angle. My gracious companion offered to leave an empty between us, which was not only fat-savvy, but do-able, being that the house was only about two-thirds full.

If you've got ample backside, I'd do the up against the wall thing.


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## Giraffes?Giraffes! (Jun 13, 2006)

Saw it tonight. I was late in arriving so wasnt really able to get it in it's fullness, but enjoyed what I saw. Thoughtful and well performed, if predictably dark. I'm always staggered by the sheer volume of fantastic actors in this city.

I may catch the first half on thursday. The cute blonde girl at the box office (one of the producers, I believe) offered to put me on the list. Anybody up for it?


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## The Obstreperous Ms. J (Jun 14, 2006)

While the play written and performed by JD Carter is advertised as a surprisingly funny, dark and twisted tale of passion, revenge and dessert, I found it severely lacking in many areas. The five word review is: Grade B Shock Horror Schtick.

Funny: Plain ol' fat jokes spread around the show.
Dark: Touched on aspects of power and control in relationships and failed to make a point about its position about relationships of this nature in general. 
Twisted: Revenge towards a media figure used to demonize the feedee. 

Lipmixgirl (Aris) and I were in the front row for the 30 minute show. While I found grains of recognition in the narrative of a feeder/feedee relationship, it was mostly played for shock value. 

What I found most disturbing was what happened after the show. We stuck around and asked JD a few questions about the nature of the show. To paraphrase the evolution of the show: He had heard stories about gory deaths coming about perverse sexual situations and "stumbled" upon a feeder fantasy story and just ran with it and decided to expand it into a sensationalist expose of these "sad, sick people"

After which I asked him what was his position towards it, since I found the presentation lacking any firm theatrical foundation. He said that he didn't have any position towards or against feederism. It was more for show than anything (while he did go on about acceptance of all sizes and such) he called his show "bad art" It left the audience to decide what they want out of the show.

I found out later that JD had not done his research: He didn't talk to any feeders or feedees (and I am sure that there are several people here who would wax poetic for days about the subject)

I find the show to be a missed opportunity to explore and bring into the light a thorough non-judgemental representation of a feeder/ feedee relationship, but until the stigma of shame is removed, the exploitative and humiliating "bad art" will have to speak for it.


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## Brent Righteous (Jun 14, 2006)

Thanks for the review Ms. J. Hopefully some day I'll be able to check it out myself.


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## The Obstreperous Ms. J (Jun 14, 2006)

It has one more showing of it next Tuesday, I think. I know that JD is filming them, and I'm sure he can be persuaded to sell a copy of the show.


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## LillyBBBW (Jun 14, 2006)

How was the audience? Was it well attended? could you get a feel for the general climate? Anybody throw food?


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## The Obstreperous Ms. J (Jun 14, 2006)

LillyBBBW said:


> How was the audience? Was it well attended? could you get a feel for the general climate? Anybody throw food?




I'd say about 45-50% of the seats were taken, mostly slim women and their respective dates. Young. They laughed at all of the fat jokes and clapped loudly at the end.
I didn't. Mainly because I was more in the state of "that was it?" 
No food was thrown  

I guess they appreciated the jokes and the sensationalist tone.


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## exile in thighville (Jun 15, 2006)

The Obstreperous Ms. J said:


> I'd say about 45-50% of the seats were taken, mostly slim women and their respective dates. Young. They laughed at all of the fat jokes and clapped loudly at the end.
> I didn't. Mainly because I was more in the state of "that was it?"
> No food was thrown
> 
> I guess they appreciated the jokes and the sensationalist tone.



fat is funny. it jiggles, it wobbles, it shows up in ridiculous places, it causes pratfalls and slapstick on its own, which can be exploited in the right hands (chris farley, john belushi, jack black, peter griffin). i'd like to differentiate for a minute (just so we're on the same page) that fat jokes can be funny and lighthearted even though they're often cruel and demeaning. as someone who will go as far as possible for a good joke, i have a problem with the idea that fat can't be funny ever again because society has beat the stereotypes into the ground. i get offended by people who make fun of fat in a disgusted way, but in movies and entertainment i've come to expect fat jokes as inevitable, and if they're done right, i can appreciate them as much as any good jew joke, black joke, polish joke, spousal abuse joke, dead baby joke, or any other off-color humor that gives me a guilty laugh. now i haven't seen the play and i'd bet it to be largely judgmental and offensive, but i also have realistic expectations for it. what did you expect going to see "feeder: the play"? did you think it was going to portray the relationship as normal and heroic and groundbreaking? give me a break, even new york, which is a mecca of both art and tolerance, is not ready to stop complaining about its weight. fat has yet to be accepted by society, and freaky fetishes are far lower on society's list of things to start tolerating, particularly ones that invite controversy about health and victimization concerns.


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## LillyBBBW (Jun 15, 2006)

Sometimes fat isn't funny, especially when the jokes are old, tired, beaten and uninteresting. I've been known to spitake on a good fat joke myself but c'mon. "When she sits around the house, she sits A-R-O-U-N-D the house!" nyuk nyuk nyuk. Man, that's not funny - it's dumb. And lets not forget Omar the tent maker references. *eyeroll* I'm not mad because someone told a fat joke near me. I'm mad because the joke was so stupid, it took 8 seconds off my lifespan for no reason. And a bunch of dummies laughed. That's what would piss me off more than anything.

It sounds like this play was coming off of a perspective that is similar to the pubescent beginnings of a fat joke that everybody has heard a million times before. 




dan ex machina said:


> fat is funny. it jiggles, it wobbles, it shows up in ridiculous places, it causes pratfalls and slapstick on its own, which can be exploited in the right hands (chris farley, john belushi, jack black, peter griffin). i'd like to differentiate for a minute (just so we're on the same page) that fat jokes can be funny and lighthearted even though they're often cruel and demeaning. as someone who will go as far as possible for a good joke, i have a problem with the idea that fat can't be funny ever again because society has beat the stereotypes into the ground. i get offended by people who make fun of fat in a disgusted way, but in movies and entertainment i've come to expect fat jokes as inevitable, and if they're done right, i can appreciate them as much as any good jew joke, black joke, polish joke, spousal abuse joke, dead baby joke, or any other off-color humor that gives me a guilty laugh. now i haven't seen the play and i'd bet it to be largely judgmental and offensive, but i also have realistic expectations for it. what did you expect going to see "feeder: the play"? did you think it was going to portray the relationship as normal and heroic and groundbreaking? give me a break, even new york, which is a mecca of both art and tolerance, is not ready to stop complaining about its weight. fat has yet to be accepted by society, and freaky fetishes are far lower on society's list of things to start tolerating, particularly ones that invite controversy about health and victimization concerns.


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## lipmixgirl (Jun 15, 2006)

well, i must second ms. j.'s response. the piece was pure shite. 

whereas ms. j can speak on the piece from the theatrical standpoint, i am going to speak on the piece from the standpoint of multiculturalism and diversity - with an emphasis on proper research and tact...

synopsis: feeder noel and feedee jessie meet, fall in love, get married and set a goal of gaining to reach the goal of jessie weighing 1,000 lbs. immoblity sets in at somewhere around 400ish lbs. and this is where noel states that their sub/dom roles in the relationship flip...in the neighborhood of 700ish lbs, jessie, the feedee, is removed from her home by some do-gooder media star (on the order of a maury or jenny or montel) and shipped off to a fat farm. it is unclear whether jessie was "kidnapped" as noel claimed or rather she, herself called for this intervention by choice. it was at this "clinic" that jessie died, 300ish lbs short of her goal... according to noel "the diet killed her".... jessie's death drives noel to desperation leading him on a cross country journey in his van where he kidnaps the nameless do-gooder media star and enslaves her as his new feedee - complete with the feeding machine.

my observations: the piece was riddled with nasty fat jokes... of which the feeder was the biggest joke of all and the feedee the fat pathetic victim... the audience was rife with laughter... forgetting the aspect of feederism, noel, first introduces himself to the audience as a man lacking in self-confidence, self-esteem, and any brand of sexual prowess or experience until he meets jessie... it is feederism and the goals of feeding that he finds his machesmo in food and fattening... at the point we meet the character noel, he is consumed (pun intended) with living feederism 24/7. he has no identity outside of the feeder/feedee lifestyle.

my conversation with j.d. carter: there were a few points i wanted clarification on. 

my first question i asked was what possessed him to create the character of jessie as an "apple shaped woman weighing 286 pounds when they first met". (for those of you that know me and my threads, i am a proud apple who always complains we apples get the shaft...) followed up with how tall was she? 

the answer: 5'2, 286, apple shaped - because by making her an apple shape her little legs wouldn't be able to support all the weight and she would go immobile faster. 

second question: what research did you do? 

the answer: trolled around fetish sites and read some bulletin boards when he stumbled onto feederism and was hooked

third question: did you actually interview any feeders?

the answer: "no, i mean, come on, who would actually talk to me if i said i was a guy writing a piece on feederism. no one."

to which i responded that i personally knew of a few guys that would have gladly talked to him - at length - on feederism and feeder pride...

and finally, when i was asked what i thought of the piece - i replied that it was a complete caricature - riddled with fat jokes... did i mention those fat jokes!?!?!?! 

i mean really, if you are going to do a piece that revolves around fatness and the only 2 fat people in the audience don't applaud, does that sound very positive to you?????

my advice to j.d. carter and any other voyeur out there: DO YOUR HOMEWORK... DO YOUR RESEARCH... the last thing our community needs is more negative publicity... 

GRADE B SHOCK HORROR SHTICK!!!!

this piece not only gets 2 thumbs down from me, it also gets 2 fat rolls down from me... 

i will close by stating that this piece made the movie Shallow Hal look like a sensitive caring movie that i would have really enjoyed watching... 

the big apple has spoken...

::exeunt:: :bow: 


bottom line - fat is not, nor can ever be beautiful, attractive, or even desirable... and anyone who desires fat is clinically insane...


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## The Obstreperous Ms. J (Jun 15, 2006)

One of my beaus took a piss right on a poster of Shallow Hall to show what he thought of the movie.
I was so proud of him for that :wubu: 
too bad it didn't work out between us :doh:


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## exile in thighville (Jun 16, 2006)

lipmixgirl said:


> well, i must second ms. j.'s response. the piece was pure shite.
> 
> whereas ms. j can speak on the piece from the theatrical standpoint, i am going to speak on the piece from the standpoint of multiculturalism and diversity - with an emphasis on proper research and tact...
> 
> ...




again, bad as it was (and sounds), i still can't fathom the idea that research and political correctness would made it a better or more interesting play even if it was less offensive. what do you want, a feeder romantic comedy? the plot is so ridiculous and out there (as i'd expect it to be), that like Feed, it removes itself far and away from our actual subculture and into the fictional domain of feeders who kidnap doo-gooder celebrities and hook them up to feeding machines. ....not a bad idea though ::strokes chin::


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## Jes (Jun 16, 2006)

LillyBBBW said:


> How was the audience? Was it well attended? could you get a feel for the general climate? Anybody throw food?


Anyone catch the thrown food in their feeding funnels?


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## TheSadeianLinguist (Jun 16, 2006)

Jes, my tummy is really upset now. Please don't make me puke from laughing. It's happened before.


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## Jes (Jun 16, 2006)

TheSadeianLinguist said:


> Jes, my tummy is really upset now. Please don't make me puke from laughing. It's happened before.


Dim can be a very funny place, we have lots of creative minds here. You can't eat while you're visiting! (mass groan from FAs allover the world)


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## plumpmygut (Jun 16, 2006)

Great review lipmixgirl! I was thinking of going to see this. Glad I didn't!


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## Boteroesque Babe (Jun 16, 2006)

Ladies! Help us out with a spoiler alert next time? Some here were planning to attend last night's performance, and with knowledge of the plot twist, your synopsis might've made that pointless.

I think going in with the understanding I was there for a piece of theater, not documentary, may have aided my enjoyment of it. I don't recall being offended by anything, except perhaps for a gentleman in the audience who laughed at what were, in my opinion, inappropriate times. And I don't recall the unkind fat jokes to which you're referring.

I don't expect to be coddled by a theater experience. I expect to be entertained and/or provoked to think. I was. Eye of the beholder, I guess.

I'll always be interested in mainstream treatments of subjects I have a more intimate knowledge of, and this was no exception.


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## lipmixgirl (Jun 16, 2006)

Boteroesque Babe said:


> Ladies! Help us out with a spoiler alert next time? Some here were planning to attend last night's performance, and with knowledge of the plot twist, your synopsis might've made that pointless.


 
EEK!!!! boteroesque, my sincerest apologies for not posting a clear spoiler alert!
MEA CULPA!


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## The Obstreperous Ms. J (Jun 16, 2006)

Sorry :doh:


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## coyote wild (Jul 16, 2006)

the answer to this question may include spoilers, but did they show Jessie's gain? was there a fat suit or something?

and did the do-gooder reporter actually get fat? or did she escape or something?

this play intrigues me. i see it as nothing more than a WG story, but acted out. and that excites me haha.

too bad im in GA and cant see it for myself.

PM me the answers, if anyone wants to reply at all.


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## Boteroesque Babe (Jul 16, 2006)

coyote wild said:


> the answer to this question may include spoilers, but did they show Jessie's gain? was there a fat suit or something?
> 
> and did the do-gooder reporter actually get fat? or did she escape or something?


The audience sees neither woman. It's a one-man play, and the other characters are left to our imagination.


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## coyote wild (Jul 16, 2006)

well thats boring...


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## Boteroesque Babe (Jul 16, 2006)

coyote wild said:


> well thats boring...


Indeed. Just like books. Bleh.


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## ThatFatGirl (Jul 16, 2006)

Boteroesque Babe said:


> Indeed. Just like books. Bleh.



Damn the imagination and those who expect us to use it!


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## exile in thighville (Jul 20, 2006)

coyote wild said:


> well thats boring...



i know right! i totally thought they were gonna have feedees onstage that grow right before our very eyes. bum-out!


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