It's all fun and games until someone tells a fat joke by Hank Brockett
	If ever there was a time when beer guts and love handles were comedy standards, we sadly have reached it. Maybe you’ve seen the latest television promo for NBC’s upcoming comedy “Emeril” -- a show with such terrible buzz that Paula Poundstone would be a viable guest star at this point. The show’s star, the real-life cook Emeril Lagasse, talks a little about the show in one of those pseudo “insider looks” behind the scenes. The commercial, though, intersperses feeble attempts at humor that make the commercial memorable for all the wrong reasons. You see, all the people on the cast are fat, because the food Lagasse cooks is so good. And ... um, well, that’s basically the gist of the show. The focus on weight always has been a part of the comedy climate. Silent movie fallen star Fatty Arbuckle didn’t get his name for nothing, and his work took full advantage of his girth. But any comic with half a conscience will tell you that there must be guidelines to the guffaws. “What’s the deal with cancer?” won’t fly in any sensitive locale. The entertainment industry’s near future offers better glimpses than the ill-fated television show. The Farrelly brothers’ “Shallow Hal” is supposed to take up the cause of inner beauty underneath the fat suits. And Kevin Smith’s “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” offers the fat jokes, but that is acceptable because Smith is making jokes about himself. There is a difference. But that distasteful commercial, a few seconds demeaning a whole culture of overweight Americans, isn’t as simple as “funny” or “not funny.” Although the wording can change, we should look at what makes us laugh with one simple thought: We make fun of what others can change, and keep sacred (or whisper behind the back) what can’t be helped. “But food and weight is a choice, right?” you say. “Put down the Twinkies and lift some weights, bub!” A simple glance at the true melting pots of America doesn’t help matters. That’s right, I’m talking about waterparks. A visit to the Wisconsin Dells-based Noah’s Ark in early August didn’t help matters. For every singular instance of bellies spilling over waistlines, there was a whole family that strained the scales. And that should make us contemplate rather than snicker. Can it be helped? For goodness sake, I hope so. Those images were quite disheartening, and those folks aren’t just forever banned from Abercrombie catalogues. These folks forever know the pain of bad jokes and unsightly double-takes. I used to think in my skinny glory that weight problems fell into that “other” category and deserved all the creative and demeaning wordwork. But just as weight is added calorie by calorie, an opinion can change comment by comment. My breaking point came when all the comments about potential girlfriends I heard first focused on weight, proceeded by looks and then personality. One comment from one person, I could understand. But there were many comments from many people, and the fat jokes I could stand no more. Certainly, we have reached just the tip of a whole iceberg in what we know about the human body. Genetics or bad habits? A lack of exercise or a chemical lack of motivation? The reasons why America is fattening up are more varied than even the best buffet line. So I offer up this challenge to all the readers, because NBC and most of the entertainment industry is just out of earshot. Remember that those jokes seek and destroy the morale of every person you target. So what if you’re skinny and can’t understand the fat culture? Swallow that witty one-liner and be a better person for it. Good taste is good taste, after all.
							Originally published in the Northern Star.
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