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100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.

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Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.

#61

Post by SamAtt »

timwiseman wrote: post #50
SamAtt wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I agree with that. I think the fast food industry gives a false impression because they started out with fattening food. But all the current fast food places were founded a relatively short time ago (McDonalds: '55, Burger King: '53, KFC: '52, Taco Bell: '62, Pizza Hut: '58) and as they've evolved their menus have become healthier. Beyond that technology is paving the way for a less fattening diet. Diet…

* they've evolved their menus have become healthier.* Have you looked at the nutrition facts lately? Or seen the new commercials for KFC heart attack of two pieces of fried chicken with bacon and cheese in between? I wasn't around when the fast food places you mention were founded, but if this is the trend towards healthier then I am amazed people survived for any length of time after they emerged. (Granted, many hav…

Given the healthy options didn't exist up until a few years ago I'd call that moving towards healthier menu items. Of course they're going to try to appeal to already existing audience that wants junk food but in the end we've gone from "no healthy options" to "a variety of healthy options" in less than a decade while the junk food items have declined (McDonalds doing away with Super Sizing as just one example)

Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.

#62

Post by eru »

david927 wrote: post #30
dkimball wrote: post #15

So, 100 years ago, this kind of weight was sideshow-worthy (and remember the other things one would see in a circus sideshow...); today, it wouldn't turn heads on a subway. However: the US has become _more_ health-conscious in the past 100 years, not less. We must have something wrong, if concern for exercise and good nutrition goes hand-in-hand with this kind of obesity. I think this is due, at least in part, to the…

The US has become more health-conscious but also, in the last 50 years, has began to be exploited by manufacturers. Note, this person would be shocking still in Europe. Chemicals and corn by-products are stuffed everywhere in American products. Even in crazy places like maple syrup and ketchup. I went back to the States at Christmas and we went to an upscale grocery store, yet my wife couldn't find almost anything (y…

While I share your sentiment about too much processed foot, may I ask what's there to say against genetic engineering?

Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.

#63

Post by far33d »

roc wrote: post #47
adamhowell wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They got a lot of shit for it at the time, too. Every time I see everyone in a train or line looking down at their phones, I also can't help but think of Wall-e.

> " They got a lot of shit for it at the time, too. " A good deal of it very well-deserved. For a movie exposing the blind-alley of rampant consumerism, it was being sold via a dizzying array of Cheap Plastic Crap, much of it bundled with the very junk food the movie skewered.

I believe that the Pixar happy meal deal w/ McDonalds was over by the time Wall-E was released.

Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.

#64

Post by eru »

lmkg wrote: post #57
rauljara wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a Bangladeshi friend explain to me ~8 years ago that all the female Bangladeshi movie stars (not to be confused with Bollywood stars) were fat. For most of the population, being thin was a sign of not being able to afford much food, so fat women were the ideal. Just goes to show how subjective certain kinds of beauty are.

It's true in a lot of cultures. I know in pre-colonial Hawai'i, being huge was attractive. I hear it was true in parts of Africa, too. It's not true in the states just because the bar isn't that high to get 2-3k calories per day. I think it's generally true that standards of beauty follow whatever implies a higher standard of living. Look at America today: facial and hair complexion to show quality, not just quantity…

Or at least of resources.

Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.

#65

Post by timwiseman »

SamAtt wrote: post #61
timwiseman wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* they've evolved their menus have become healthier.* Have you looked at the nutrition facts lately? Or seen the new commercials for KFC heart attack of two pieces of fried chicken with bacon and cheese in between? I wasn't around when the fast food places you mention were founded, but if this is the trend towards healthier then I am amazed people survived for any length of time after they emerged. (Granted, many hav…

Given the healthy options didn't exist up until a few years ago I'd call that moving towards healthier menu items. Of course they're going to try to appeal to already existing audience that wants junk food but in the end we've gone from "no healthy options" to "a variety of healthy options" in less than a decade while the junk food items have declined (McDonalds doing away with Super Sizing as just one example)

Adding healthy options is progress, but I think adding health options is very different from the overall menu becoming healthier.

The junk food items have grown not declined though. And McDonald's no longer advertises supersizing, but they will ask if you medium or large and I think large is the same as supersizing was. That is a change in marketing, not in offerings in any way.

Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.

#66

Post by MikeCapone »

ErrantX wrote: post #8

I always find it interesting that sci-fi depictions of "evolved" humans (i.e. many years in the future) usually depict very tall, thin - even willowy - figures. That seems to fly in the face of general trend :)

If humans survive long enough to become highly advanced technologically, we'll almost certainly have a high degree of control over our bodies. Tall, thin and handsome is probably to be expected.

See Iain M. Banks's Culture novels for a fictional depiction of this pushed to the extreme (people there can even chose to switch from one sex to the other whenever they feel like it).

Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.

#67

Post by jseifer »

SamAtt wrote: post #48
ErrantX wrote: post #8

I always find it interesting that sci-fi depictions of "evolved" humans (i.e. many years in the future) usually depict very tall, thin - even willowy - figures. That seems to fly in the face of general trend :)

I'm not sure I agree with that. I think the fast food industry gives a false impression because they started out with fattening food. But all the current fast food places were founded a relatively short time ago (McDonalds: '55, Burger King: '53, KFC: '52, Taco Bell: '62, Pizza Hut: '58) and as they've evolved their menus have become healthier. Beyond that technology is paving the way for a less fattening diet. Diet…

None of the things you mention are actually healthy though. It's terribly unfortunate that they're going in the wrong direction.

Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.

#68

Post by nollidge »

david927 wrote: post #30
dkimball wrote: post #15

So, 100 years ago, this kind of weight was sideshow-worthy (and remember the other things one would see in a circus sideshow...); today, it wouldn't turn heads on a subway. However: the US has become _more_ health-conscious in the past 100 years, not less. We must have something wrong, if concern for exercise and good nutrition goes hand-in-hand with this kind of obesity. I think this is due, at least in part, to the…

The US has become more health-conscious but also, in the last 50 years, has began to be exploited by manufacturers. Note, this person would be shocking still in Europe. Chemicals and corn by-products are stuffed everywhere in American products. Even in crazy places like maple syrup and ketchup. I went back to the States at Christmas and we went to an upscale grocery store, yet my wife couldn't find almost anything (y…

You're confusing a few separate issues:

1) Cheap, high-yield corn. Upside: cheap carbs. Downside: Probably unsustainable. Crops require crazy chemical fertizilers to support the increased yields. Because it's cheap, people want to use corn for all kinds of crap it's not really suitable for, such as feeding livestock despite it being outside of their normal diet, which has ballooning negative effects (antibiotics, animal suffering)

2) High-fat, high-sugar foods becoming cheaper. Upside: Tastes good. Downside: Not good for you. Higher health costs, greater human suffering.

3) GM crops. Upside: all kinds of stuff. Downside: mostly unfounded FUD.

4) Chemical additives. Upside: longer shelf life, ergo cheaper products. Downside: certain additives are downright scary in doses far greater than normal presence in foods; AFAICT there's not enough research on the long-term effects of the normal doses.

Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.

#70

Post by axod »

hackermom wrote: post #18
gfodor wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except in Wall-e

Interestingly, WALL-E really nails the reality of western man's search for perfected convenience.

It really should have been billed as "Not a fun kids movie" IMHO. Still surprises me that people liked that movie.
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