Kevin Smith and the unbearable fatness of being

Having by now read all too many snarky -- not to mention pseudo-snarky -- stories detailing the saga of Kevin Smith getting bounced from a Southwest Airlines flight because he was, in large part, too overweight to comfortably fit into one seat, I'm still trying to make sense of it all. I mean, why did everyone, and I do mean everyone, find this an irresistible story? (For my money, the funniest material is in this CNN post, which has the best of Smith's many tweets, the one where he wrote: "I saw someone bigger than me on THAT flight! But I wasn't about to throw a fellow Fatty under the plane as I'm being profiled. But he & I made eye contact, & he was like 'Please don't tell....' ")

OK, OK, I know that when a fat guy gets tossed off an airplane and he's a big-shot movie director (and despite being such a big shot he's flying standby!), the whole incident strikes such a tragicomic chord that it's impossible to ignore. And obviously, it was Smith who gave everyone permission to be as unsympathetic as they wanted, since he broke the story, happily tweeting endlessly about his embarrassing predicament. When you tweet about your troubles, the media will always consider you fair game.

But I think that Smith got trounced so badly in the media not because he was fat, but because he was a fat guy. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I'd say that as a rule, fat lady celebs get far more sympathy than famous fat guys because they have already been held under the microscope every day of their lives in a culture that, in the most wildly unhealthy way possible, insists that its starlets and singers be as scrawny and undernourished as possible.

In fact, many observers believe that the once visibly hefty Candy Crowley only got her new gig as host of CNN's "State of the Union" after she dropped a bunch of pounds. Still, for the most part, our double standard about fatness is pretty clear. For years, Oprah's battles with her weight have made her an object  not of ridicule but of sympathy, with most women in America whole-heartedly identifying with her struggles to fit into those size 12 dresses. If nothing else, it made Oprah seem far more vulnerable and lovable than the average zillionaire tycooness. I guess you could argue that Kirstie Alley has also triumphed by embracing her fatness. In fact, she has a new A&E reality show coming up called "Big Life," which focuses on her weight loss struggles.

But no one cuts fat guys any slack. Brando was pilloried for years for letting his weight balloon out of control. When Russell Crowe showed up in his last film, "State of Play," looking like he'd just auditioned to play the whale in "Moby Dick," the critics were all over him, complaining about how bloated and dumpy the onetime sex symbol now looked. Now it's Kevin Smith's turn to be the jolly fat guy who's the butt of everyone's jokes. I'm a skinny guy myself, but I feel the fat man's pain. In America, fat guys get about as much sympathy as the pushy evangelical crusader who has to explain to his wife and kids how he ended up with a skinny mistress stashed on the other side of town. Just ask Smith -- you always have a lot of explaining to do.

Photo of Kevin Smith by Carlo Allegri / Associated Press

Comments

[Yossie]

And I agree with JJ, no one has it worse than fat women. A woman is bashed for her appearance it's called "higher standards". A woman judges a man for his appearance then she's called "being too picky and shallow".

"Cut the fat guys some slack." Shut up, Kevin Smith needs to go on diet because he is killing himself.

When you can't fit into an airplane seat then that means it's a problem.

It's not that hard to eat in moderation and get on a treadmill at least 60 mins, 4-6 times a day. Shit, with the money he makes Kevin can buy himself a personal trainer and dietitian.

[Tom Murray]

Silent Bob has got to lose the poundage, or he's going to end up like Chris Farely or John Candy. B ut what really amazes me is, like, why is he flying a lo-budget freighter like Southwest Air? Is he hurting for money?

[Dave]

Not only that, but it looks like South West Airlines employees are publicly making fun of and insulting Kevin Smith:

http://twitpic.com/146eaq

http://twitpic.com/147lcp

I think everyone in their Public Relations dept might need be fired.

[MonkeyChamp]

He deserves to be kicked off the plane, and so does any other fatty who spills over into the passenger(s) next to them. I have no sympathy for Kevin Smith on this, or any other obese person, that gets kicked off a plane, or is forced to buy 2 tickets. I do feel bad for obese people, but they're causing a lot of problems. Why is diabetes out of control? Why is high blood pressure rampant? Why are 40 year old people needing surgery for hips, knees and joints? Why is sleep apnea getting more common?

This is HIS fault. What the f@ck is wrong w\people in this country? In a lot of ways, a grossly overweight person is similar to an active drug or alcohol addict...how do we treat drug addicts and drunks? We try to help them, but recognize they have a problem and need to change.
This guy needs to change his life.

[Kristen]

It's sad how off topic and off point most people stay, even despite their obvious effort to stay (somewhat) informed and sound intelligent. I would just like to make a few points 1) The point that SWA has a “policy” in place that is not well defined or equitably enforced is a major part of this issue. Kevin Smith did meet their guidelines as SWA has them stated in their own literature. The passengers next to him said they were fine. His armrests went down. He could fasten his seatbelt. If they have a more specific policy about size, weight etc, they should post it in a very obvious place and make it specific as to the standards they set. Then they should enforce the rules equitably. Because he did fit within their guidelines (and armrests and seatbelt) he shouldn’t have been removed from the flight. Why have nebulous, arbitrary rules that are difficult to enforce fairly? 2) SWA knew his size going onto the plane. Did he look bigger in the seat than he did at the gate? Employees encountered him when he asked for a standby seat on an earlier flight. Members of the crew did encounter him before he was seated. So then why was he removed from the plane only after he was seated and his carry-on’s stowed? Why wait until that point in time to point out to him that he is big and that he needs to leave? Shouldn’t SWA have a policy in place to treat their customers with respect and courtesy? (Maybe even by having a firm policy up front and stating their policy up front so that a customer would be ABLE to follow it?) 3) SWA lied about who ordered him to be removed from the aircraft and why. They were not at all forthright with information. They changed their side of the story several times and were not upfront about it. Some people still believe that if a business or their employee or even just a human, says or does something, then they should own up to it. If they did nothing wrong, then why all the changes to their story? Just be blunt and forthright with what happened. If you screwed up apologize FOR SCREWING UP. If an employee lied, then apologize for that. Just generally do the right thing and follow the rules we were taught in Kindergarten. Be HONEST.

Well, now that I’ve said that, the people who want to can go back to discussing things that are off the point and make those statements with misinformation and half-truths regurgitated by the media.

[Tom]

The main problem is not Kevin being fat, but that he was to large for the airplane seat that he had paid for and was taking over part of the seat next to him. The person next to him paid for that space and shouldn't have to share it with Kevin. The flight attendant was just enforcing the airline rule, which is designed to be fair to other passengers and protect their rights.

[BAS]

I'd be very, very careful when making statements like "but I'd say that as a rule, fat lady celebs get far more sympathy than famous fat guys.."

Even your examples of Oprah and Kristie Alley are off, they get just as much sympathy as they do scrutiny (but probably more scrutiny). Just look on any number of magazines or SNL skits where both have been made fun of multiple times.