You know, in my explorations of the internet, I see, like everyone, a lot of fat hate, and in some cases, it's pretty predictable. Yet, every so often, you see someone who seems to be so smart in so many other areas, and yet, who has been deceived into thinking that fatness is something new, that never existed before 1965. Whenever I talk to people about how it makes the most sense to treat fatness like any other quality, because fatness has been around for literally thousands of years, you'd be amazed how often I get a flat denial of that obvious fact in response.
For this reason, I wanted to share some of my favorite depictions of fatness in works that were released prior to 1965, and I hope you'll join in with something I haven't heard of yet.
What set my mind on this track was the movie Ichabod and Mr Toad, which contains several plump-looking people. There's at least one recurring woman and another recurring man, as well as the father of Katrina. No less a mainstream singer than Bing Crosby actually referred to Katrina herself as "plump as a partridge," and it's heartening to hear, even though her waist is cartoonishly narrow, of course. There was a time when people weren't petrified of a little softness.
If you've never read any of the Asterix books, do yourself a favor and pick some up. While Obelix himself is comicly fat and sensitive about his weight, there are many, many other fat characters in the series, both male and female, and very rarely does it even become a plot point for any of them. For the most part, it's treated as what it is; perfectly normal.
One fictional character that I strive to be more like, in more ways than one, is Charles Dickens' Fezziwig, from the book; A Christmas Carol, who, in every depiction I've ever seen, the book included, is a heavyset man, married to a plump woman and with multiple young daughters. He's a fun-loving sort who loves Christmas and celebrating with his friends, and if I had his life, I'd probably be happier too.
Something about these roles is comforting to me. Yes, there were good old days of innocence, when people didn't hate good things as they do now, and if I can say that about something written by Charles Dickens... That's kind of sad.
For this reason, I wanted to share some of my favorite depictions of fatness in works that were released prior to 1965, and I hope you'll join in with something I haven't heard of yet.
What set my mind on this track was the movie Ichabod and Mr Toad, which contains several plump-looking people. There's at least one recurring woman and another recurring man, as well as the father of Katrina. No less a mainstream singer than Bing Crosby actually referred to Katrina herself as "plump as a partridge," and it's heartening to hear, even though her waist is cartoonishly narrow, of course. There was a time when people weren't petrified of a little softness.
If you've never read any of the Asterix books, do yourself a favor and pick some up. While Obelix himself is comicly fat and sensitive about his weight, there are many, many other fat characters in the series, both male and female, and very rarely does it even become a plot point for any of them. For the most part, it's treated as what it is; perfectly normal.
One fictional character that I strive to be more like, in more ways than one, is Charles Dickens' Fezziwig, from the book; A Christmas Carol, who, in every depiction I've ever seen, the book included, is a heavyset man, married to a plump woman and with multiple young daughters. He's a fun-loving sort who loves Christmas and celebrating with his friends, and if I had his life, I'd probably be happier too.
Something about these roles is comforting to me. Yes, there were good old days of innocence, when people didn't hate good things as they do now, and if I can say that about something written by Charles Dickens... That's kind of sad.
