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

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

#131

Post by roc » Sat, Apr 17, 2010, 6:06 AM UTC

pohl wrote: post #103

roc wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do as I say, not as I do? Is that still a popular way to communicate moral messages? Even coming from Disney in the first place the message came across as the old argument of a priest-of-past-sins being preferable to a priest-of-purity.

What, exactly, are you implying is the "as I do" part here? Are you saying that the employees that make up Pixar are, on the whole, frequent and regular customers of the fast food industry? I would expect that living in/near the bay area would give them good odds of being in a different demographic.

I was running with derefr's suggestion that it was intentional targeting.

Intentionally try to send a message to a demographic by placing Wall-E in their natural path would be a decision made by the corporation well above the level of Pixar's animators. That body would almost certainly be the same one that green-lit the avalanche of Cheap Plastic Crap.

So, even if they believed Pixar's message, and were intentionally trying to preach to those at-risk, they were saying "you should learn from Wall-E" (do as I say) while simultaneously saying "also, buy this plastic crap" (not as I do).

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

#132

Post by davi » Sat, Apr 17, 2010, 6:11 AM UTC

seiha wrote: post #22

mhb wrote: post #11

From: http://men-in-full.livejournal.com/111937.html referring to additional photos there: The image was taken by a photographer probably during the 1890s-1910 era. The cabinet photo measures approx. 4" x 6". It pictures a super view of a young man and woman, but both of a very large size! The back of the photo read "Chauncey Morlan, Age 25, Wt 602, Wife age 22, Wt 526". A quick "google" search revealed that they wer…

Now that's one creepy livejournal community.

I don't think it's creepy, at least not after giving it a brief read. It's interesting, and everyone is being very polite and well spoken with one another, and talking about what they're interested in. We should do as well. (I upmodded you anyway because your comment made me go look.)

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

#133

Post by zackattack » Sat, Apr 17, 2010, 8:51 AM UTC

axod wrote: post #90

run4yourlives wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do mean? Movies that have points are not to be enjoyed? A movie cannot be entertaining and insightful?

It's just more of an adult / documentary thing IMHO. They spent way too much trying to make some principled point rather than entertain. Same with 'Up'. I think perhaps they were catering to people who nominate Oscars or something. My kids were bored. Gimmie Princess and the frog, Hercules, Aladdin, Little Mermaid etc etc any day.

i fell asleep

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

#134

Post by narag » Sat, Apr 17, 2010, 12:39 PM UTC

xiaoma wrote: post #115

narag wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...the reality of western man's... What do you mean "western"? What do you mean "man"? Edit: Sometimes it seems that "too terse" comments are disliked or misunderstood. So let me explain: it seems that people in the USA, as others have already said in other comments, don't really realise that you're a special case in this matter. Of course there are fat people here in Europe, but not in the same proportion and magnit…

Don't let the existence of worse problems elsewhere blind you. From the WHO: Obesity is one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st century. Its prevalence has tripled in many countries in the WHO European Region since the 1980s, and the numbers of those affected continue to rise at an alarming rate, particularly among children. Obesity is already responsible for 2-8% of health costs and 10-13% of deaths…

I'm not blind to this problem myself. I'm afraid whatever happens to the USA could come soon to us. That's why this issue interests me so much and that's why I've changed my habits about food, losing 15 kg since last summer. I also keep a lot of attention over my son in this matter.

It's true that now we see morbidly obese persons more often than twenty years ago. But it's not common... yet.

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

#135

Post by narag » Sat, Apr 17, 2010, 2:55 PM UTC

axod wrote: post #90

run4yourlives wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do mean? Movies that have points are not to be enjoyed? A movie cannot be entertaining and insightful?

It's just more of an adult / documentary thing IMHO. They spent way too much trying to make some principled point rather than entertain. Same with 'Up'. I think perhaps they were catering to people who nominate Oscars or something. My kids were bored. Gimmie Princess and the frog, Hercules, Aladdin, Little Mermaid etc etc any day.

I don't know why you're downvoted, even if I disagree. I and my son enjoyed the film a lot. IIRC he was 4 or 5 then. Maybe your kids were older?

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

#136

Post by LargeWu » Sat, Apr 17, 2010, 5:14 PM UTC

eru wrote: post #59

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…

Anything with "diet" in the name is not automagically healthier.

Indeed. If you're familiar with Michael Pollan's Food Rules, one of them is 'Avoid anything processed that makes health claims'

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

#137

Post by jseifer » Sat, Apr 17, 2010, 6:21 PM UTC

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…

I couldn't agree more. However, even if you were to find yogurt without corn odds are that the cows were fed corn their entire lives. It takes serious effort and commitment to find high quality food in the US, though it is possible.

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

#138

Post by jamii » Sat, Apr 17, 2010, 7:24 PM UTC

gaius wrote: post #31

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 :)

One thing that's always bemused me about scifi is future superhumans adapted for ultimate survival (e.g. the Nietzscheans in Andromeda) are tall, muscular, lean, brave, intelligent, etc. Whereas for survival, you want humans that are small (so they need less food), weak because they have slow metabolisms, hairy to keep the heat in, fat because they are good at storing food in case of famine, cowardly so they avoid ri…

Some of Alistair Reynolds' books feature Neotonic Infantry - genetically engineered super-soldiers that look like children. They take up less space, eat less and being forced to kill a small child causes serious psychological damage to the enemy.

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

#139

Post by axod » Sat, Apr 17, 2010, 8:27 PM UTC

narag wrote: post #135

axod wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just more of an adult / documentary thing IMHO. They spent way too much trying to make some principled point rather than entertain. Same with 'Up'. I think perhaps they were catering to people who nominate Oscars or something. My kids were bored. Gimmie Princess and the frog, Hercules, Aladdin, Little Mermaid etc etc any day.

I don't know why you're downvoted, even if I disagree. I and my son enjoyed the film a lot. IIRC he was 4 or 5 then. Maybe your kids were older?

They were 3 / 6 / 10. "Up" was a similar story. Looking forward to Toy Story 3 though definitely. Much more fun.

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

#140

Post by marilyn » Sun, Apr 18, 2010, 9:36 AM UTC

dnsworks wrote: post #122

nollidge wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, ani…

A friend of mine has a theory that the rise of depression over the past 20 years has a lot to do with the low-fat diet kick the country has been on, even though low-fat diets have never been proven to prevent obesity or to reduce it. Since our brains are mostly made of fat, maybe low-fat diets aren't the best ideas? I personally eat less fat than most people I know, yet I'm still fat.

This makes sense with the link between good fats, like Omega 3s, and elevated moods I keep hearing about.

It's really important to recognize the difference between good fats (salmon, avocado, olive oil etc) and bad fats (fries, butter etc). Same is true for good and bad carbs.