https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7yygZ_l01E

These people look like they’ve been hurt by society, which is very sad. In response they developed a bunch of defences, such as “Fuck you”, or “It’s okay to be fat, actually”. Most of them felt to be very much on the defensive, some of them bordering on agressive even.

It surprised and horrified me how much abuse these people were getting. It’s useless and unnecessary. The carrot of being thin is already desirable enough - no one thinks being fat is good, you don’t have to remind them of that.

No doubt every one of them tried losing fat, and probably tried very hard. For some reason these attempts did not work, and these people had to cope somehow. For most of them, coping involves ignoring the reality. Being fat IS bad for your health in the same way smoking is. Even if there’s no way to lose fat now, even if it’s literally impossible for you, still, the only correct answer to “If you could be thin tomorrow, would you?”, is yes. Because then you would live longer, move easier, have less morons annoying you on a daily basis.

But at least in the context of a show, some of them still stick to “being fat is really okay” position. Probably because if they start doubting it for a second, it’ll make them miserable, and it will make them want to try to lose fat, which is likely to fail in the same way as previous attempts fail.

I’m surprised by the guy in a black shirt, by how honest he was. He understands fat’s bad for his health, he wants to get leaner, but realises it’s borderline impossible. I admire this respect for reality.

A speculation based on nothing but impression

At the same time it fells like he (the guy in the black shirt) is the least energetic of the group. My guess would be that reality-ignoring defences allow the rest to pretend it’s OK and carry on with their lives, while he has to struggle with the reality every day, which takes energy. Living in an illusion may be actually beneficial. Still, I cannot help but admire when a person in bad circumstances doesn’t ignore them, acknowledges reality and learns to live in it. Especially if they can do it with a smile.