‘Fat Shame’ and a Fat Baby
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During a badly needed break at work today, I decided to take a peek at which Colbert Report was shown on the rerun last night, and I saw that it was the one featuring Amy Farrell and the discussion Stephen and Amy had on weightism. I’m glad I did, because I forgot to post it at the time, but there was actually a follow up Q&A with Prof. Farrell in the Sentinel Online (h/t Jennie), and there’s some fun stuff in it:
5 Questions: Dickinson professor talks interview on ‘Colbert Report’
By Naomi Creason, Sentinel Reporter, October 16, 2009When Amy Farrell contributed to “The Fat Studies Reader,” she didn’t anticipate showing up on prime-time television to talk about national issues.
. . .
Question: What question were you not expecting?
Farrell: “I wasn’t expecting what he started off with — ‘Let’s get our cards down on the table. I’m fat, you’re fat.’ I wasn’t expecting it at all. I just started laughing. You just never know where he’s going to go.
“That day, I don’t think I’ve ever been more insulted in my life. But it was very fun to be there.”
. . .
I quite liked that Colbert Report interview for two reasons. First, I liked it because it acknowledged the weight problem that America is struggling with, but it also talked about a person’s overall health as being more than just a measure of weight.
The second reason I liked it was that it made me think of this Exit 57 sketch, in which a hilariously cruel Stephen proves that he can be quite the fierce defender of at least one “little butterball”:
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17 Comments
October 20th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Thanks for sharing the interview. I’d like to see the uncut one, if colbertnation ever posts it.
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October 20th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Weight is such a crazy aspect to judge one’s health on. I think she stated this (but maybe not) but one can be skinny and unhealthy or overweight and healthy.
Using weight for the purpose of discriminating is wrong.
If anyone checked out Huff-Po today, a young girl was denied health insurance cause she was too skinny.
We live in a very confusing place.
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October 20th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Oh my goodness. That ‘Fat Baby’ sketch cracks me up every time! Thanks for posting! :)
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October 20th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Never saw that “Fat Baby” sketch before, but I think Stephen was playing that creepy gym coach that he knew of during high school and mentioned during one of his interviews with Terry Gross awhile back.
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October 20th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
I also hadn’t seen that sketch!
I don’t remember that interview with Terry Gross–or it has been a while! Do you know if it is archived on the FreshAir/NPR site or possibly Colbert University?
reCAPTCHA: laziest children !!! ;)
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October 20th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Hey luvtcr,
The interview goes back to January 24, 2005 when Stephen was still a correspondent on The Daily Show! Luckily, Fresh Air does have the interview in their archive and you can catch his recollections about teacher near the last 6 or 7 minutes of the interview. Pretty dark.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4464017
However, I haven’t been able to find his interview with Terry right before A Colbert Christmas!
recaptcha: his mystery
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October 22nd, 2009 at 8:52 am
Ask and you shall receive: “Satire in Your Stocking With ‘A Colbert Christmas’” (Nov 2008).
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:41 am
Thanks! You guys are so knowledgeable, helpful and speedy with the links! What would I do without my fellow zoners?! :)
October 21st, 2009 at 9:50 am
It’s from January 2005, when they’re discussing Strangers With Candy. Here’s the link: “A Fake Newsman’s Fake Newsman”
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October 21st, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Thanks, wren! :)
October 20th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I actually recently graduated from Dickinson (though I never met Professor Farrell), and it was really cool to see my alma mater represented on the Colbert Report. I think she did a great job on the show- and it would be interesting to see the whole interview.
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October 21st, 2009 at 10:30 am
That Fat Baby sketch is my favorite from Exit 57. Paul is just hysterical. “Oh what a nice traditional family, Mr and Mrs. Sodom and Gomorrah and their Thanksgiving parade balloon baby.” That one had me rolling.
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October 21st, 2009 at 11:08 am
They’re the original “balloon boy” family.
Made me laugh too.
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October 21st, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Haha, that line had me lmfao. Hilarious sketch.
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October 21st, 2009 at 12:05 pm
I love Exit 57, and I have seen most of those eps (I can’t find 10-12)That was a really funny skit. One of the best on that show. ^-^
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October 21st, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Thanks for sharing that article! I really loved that whole episode, but I was elated when Stephen started talking about “weightism” (trademark by Stephen Colbert haha), as it is an issue that is extremely important to me. So I’m glad he took time to address it.
I just love this question from that article interview:
Question: Is there a trick to keeping Stephen on task?
Farrell: “I don’t know. I just did the best I could. I think he does want you to tell him about whatever you’re an expert in, but he has to be entertaining, too. I think he does both pretty well.
- I really like Farrell’s answer. It just reminds me of the Charlie Rose interview Stephen did when he was talking about how hard it is sometimes to still be entertaining and go for the joke when he’s really interested in the subject or person he’s interviewing.
And ohhh thank you for the Exit 57 clip! Youtube is wonderful – I wouldn’t be able to see Exit 57 without it. :D
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October 21st, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Paul and Stephen are hilarious when they’re together <3 OOOHMAN
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