And I don’t mean your comment specifically. I get there are many people who are very conscious of what they eat and being active and generally healthy, and for them someone like this is beyond their experience. But I *guarantee* that this is a product of your ignorance (no pejorative) as, if you can’t understand something like this, it’s because you’re not from a place where “fat” people are the norm. Hell, I personally do not understand the modern obsession with the “healthy” lifestyle (I enjoy Bill Hick’s take on jogging), but I accept it as a social norm that I’m just not a part of. I still happen to be healthy and active, more out of necessity than an obsession with conforming to an image or lifestyle.

Uh, that just reminded me of the museum of dad trolling. http://www.xkcd.com/826/

Maybe it’s because I’ve spent much of my life working with young children (my folks have been in the childcare business for 25 years) but I never understand outrage over stuff like this. I assume it’s just unfamiliarity with toddler behavior, combined with the subtle “I hate kids” attitude that (single, young) people tend to have. This kid is just acting for the camera, as kids are wont to do. Kids like to say funny things to get reactions from people, just like adults do. This is a miniscule drop in the bucket compared to the millions of other lessons and interactions he’ll endure over the next 15+ years of social development.

(Sorry. Judgmental backseat parenting is a pet peeve of mine. I’ll show myself out.)

That’s almost exactly how I came to own a Limp Bizkit CD during the summer of 1999.

I borrowed your idea below. Sorry.

UPvote

I don’t think it was the point of the joke but my takeaway was “A good gimmick can make any movie, no matter how shitty, into a phenomenon. See, for example, the films of Charlie Kaufman.”

I’m *definitely* team community this week. I was slightly disappointed at first, but I realized that’s just because it came after three intensely hilarious non-stop-laughs episodes. There would be s step down in intensity, and I’m glad they did something conceptually interesting, if just not as intensely hilarious.

Then again, maybe I just laughed because “Charlie Kaufman”.

I meant that as an illustrative example. I’m not a psychologist so I can’t comment on the nature of phobias and anxieties or how they arise, but I don’t think it’s fair to judge someone on something that’s essentially beyond their control. I won’t start criticizing until they start actually acting on their fears and making the world a worse place for the rest of us (e.g. Juan Williams).

I’m sure there are lots of people who have conditioned bigotry as a result of their upbringing who are actively trying to overcome it, or at least trying hard to conceal it so they can be functional members of an increasingly multicultural society. Had he gone of FOX news and discussed it openly, about how he’s trying to be a better person, and possibly creating a teachable moment for the viewers, that would be fine, whatever. But rather than that, what he did was go on national teevee news network and try to justify it, and tacitly, allow viewers to justify their own prejudices at the same time since “oh, that black guy’s afraid of muslims, so I guess it’s okay that I am too”. That is why he is a dick.

Aside: I know it’s already been said, but I’m so proud that we’ve reached a point where a black man can go on FOX news and spout ignorant racist bullshit alongside the whitest people on TV. We finally made it, Mom!

Community was all about the slogans and acronyms:

E Pluribus Anus

City
College
Cosmic
Pioneer

Systematic
Android
Network
Diode
Energy
Rocket
System

And so forth.

Fair enough, and yeah, I totally agree with you. (I bet) it’s an awkward position to be in, having to maintain journalistic integrity while still using your credibility to speak to people about the issues you care deeply about.