For gods' sakes, people

[serai]

Can we all just lighten up??

RANT FOLLOWS

Sean Astin never said a word in that Premiere Magazine about fat people. Not One Word. He was talking about himself, his own body and how he felt about it, which he has a perfect right to do. He can think what he likes about his physique, and is free to feel whatever he feels about it.

Just because he's an actor doesn't mean he has any resposibility for anyone else's feelings. (The idea of an actor being in any way a role model, or obligated to watch his mouth more than anyone else, is ludicrous to me.) Sean went through a hell of a lot to bring us Sam Gamgee, and the carping I'm seeing here on LJ over some honest comments about the difficulties he went through is really pissing me off. He's a great guy, and he's got a right to feel unhappy about what he was made to do to himself, and what has happened to his body because of it, despite the fact that it's not the original image of Sam.

Besides, getting all twisted up over something a movie star says seems to me to be self-defeating. Who the hell cares what some actor says? Yes, it's Sean, he's lovely, I like him an awful lot. But when it comes down to it, he's just some guy. Why get upset over it?

Now, I realize that those who already resent him are using this as an excuse to dislike him even more. I've noted their outlook in the past - using his portrayal of Sam as material for their writings, yet badmouthing him for every little comment he makes that isn't within their narrow definitions of "nice" (meaning "what I want to hear"). There's a word for that kind of outlook and behavior, folks, and it starts with a great big H. But there's nothing we can do about that kind of person - they're going to be hopping up and down no matter what he does.

I guess what I'm saying is simply that it's not that big a deal. And just so you know - not only am I what is currently considered "overweight" (fat, for those of us unafraid of honest English), I live in L.A., which is arguably the most image-conscious city in the world. I myself have auditioned and been rejected, and it may have been because of my body (though that's not an assumption I'm prepared to make conclusively - see, it's possible not to take such things personally!) Yet it didn't even occur to me to feel any offense over what Sean said. It wasn't until I came to LJ last night and started seeing comments that a different interpretation even seemed possible. I expected the bochinche to be all about the great pissing the guys were doing about Elijah being or not being gay, and the great tinhat silliness that would start up (get the popcorn!) Sean's comments didn't even make me pause.

So could we let this one go? I mean this sincerely. Life's too short to drink bad wine. Why make yourselves unhappy over something that has nothing to do with anyone but Sean? He's an actor. His life and career depend partly on what he has to do physically and how the people in his business react to it. Yes, it's a shallow and silly situation for an adult to find himself in career-wise, but that's not his fault, is it? He's simply discussing LOTR and his work with a journalist who, after all, asked.

OK, RANT OVER. Feel free to start yelling at me, now. I'll be over here with a bottle of Chablis Ranchot 1991. Mmmm...


ADDENDUM: Karadin mentioned something in comments that is yet another mistaken interpretation that some are putting on Sean's words: That "fat fuck" referred to the character of Sam. ARGH! The fat fuck Sean is talking about is a character type. The Sidekick, the Best Friend Who Never Gets a Girl, the Sad Sack, the Comic Relief. The guy whose main purpose is to make the Hero look good by comparison. Sean's conception was clearly that Frodo and Sam would be more or less equivalent in their bodies. Had the film stayed with Tolkien's conception of Sam, they would have been. But it didn't. I give Sean kudos for understanding the language of cinema enough to realize what the change would do to Sam in the audience's eyes, and for fighting against anything that would diminish him. Let's face it - the majority of people have been brainwashed about weight, and making Sam look like that did have an effect. I for one am glad to hear that Sean went to bat for him.

Comments

[trilliah.livejournal.com]

*applauds* Thank you. It needed to be said (and more eloquently than I managed).

You're welcome!

[serai1.livejournal.com]

*takes bow*

Just couldn't let this go by. (And thanks for the kind words!)

Sigh

[karadin.livejournal.com]

I thought when Sean mentioned the words 'fat fuck' he was speaking about himself and not Sam.

When I read it my first reaction was crap-the shit is gonna hit the fan because some people are going to take this the wrong way-and they did. (sigh)

However, I think any comment that defines the line between character and actor is a good thing-if it wakes some people up to the fact that Sean is Sean-and not Sam Gamgee, I'm glad it happened.

So some people are saying they don't like him anymore? Hell-you never knew him in the first place! He and Lij and Dom and Billy are complete strangers to us-the most we can say is we saw them portray a character and that portrayal spoke to us and hit us where we live, and we love that-not them as individuals.

Um, when I read the comments about Lij-(Am I straight? Am I gay? Am I confused?-I thought, these guys should be writing RPS, heh with the 'Leoglas is our bitch' comment, I'm sure they do!)

Re: Sigh

[serai1.livejournal.com]

That's a great point about defining the lines between character and actor, K. It's way too easy in these media-saturated times to forget that we really don't know these people at all. All we know is what they choose to show us, and who's to say even that's real? (As an acting teacher once told me, "Never assume your character is telling the truth." Remember River Phoenix? He used to take the piss out of reporters all the time, constantly telling them bizarre, conflicting stories about himself in order to throw a smokescreen around his real life.)

You know what makes me sad about all this? That it's inevitably going to get back to Sean, and being who he is, he's going to feel badly about what he said (even though he had a perfect right to say it). And he'll be just that much more likely to clam up when he's asked anything that might be even slightly controversial. I've seen it before, and it would sadden me to see it happen to him.

Re: Sigh

[karadin.livejournal.com]

I think he'll just make mention that he was speaking about himself and not Sam-and that he has no problems with overweight in gen-just wanting to like and be comfortable in his own body.

Re: Sigh

[freakspawn.livejournal.com]

I, for one, was surprised that people had gotten offended. I had to go back and re-read the article to find out why!

I wholeheartedly agree with you, it was said, nothing was meant by it, let's move on...

I also hope that Sean doesn't get to hear about the commotion, because invariably he would worry, he seems to be that kind of person (imo, not that I know for real).

Well said!

[(Anonymous)]

I, too, was not phased by Sean's comments. I've heard too many stories of actors almost killing themselves gaining/losing weight for a part, with their metabolisms all shot to hell and back, to think that his words were directed toward anyone but himself. And I totally agree that the weight struggle was both personal and professional...how he had to feel in his own skin as well as how he had to fight having the weight make Sam a parody. Like many of us, I've struggled with my weight and how I feel about my body. I've lost, I've gained, I've felt beautiful, I've felt ugly, I've felt healthy, I've felt like a slug. If the ordinary person, like me, feels the huge pressure of the improtance of image, it is ten times worse for figures in the media, especially in Hollywood. One of my best friends refuses to consider living in LA because she finds it to be so intimidating, and she has no connection whatsoever to any part of the media.
Having acknowledged that the personal issues we all carry concerning weight and image, and the undue pressures of the media for "perfection," I have to add my own bit of rant. There is a difference between being comfortable with who you are, being able to differentiate personhood from external image, and acknowledging the role weight plays in general health. There is no question that obesity is a serious national health problem. If I remember my stats correctly, roughtly 60% of the population is overweight and 30% is morbidly obese as per BMI. (Yes that is an imperfect measurement, but it does the job). This trend is due to many factors...the quality and prices of food, advertising, lifestyle changes that come with industrialization, etc. But the fact is that increased weight leasd to high blood pressure, type II diabetes, atherosclerosis, heart disease, exacerbation of arthritis, hormonal disorders, stroke, certain cancers, etc. You and I are aware of this, Sean Astin is aware of this, everyone is aware of this. And I could go on about how we all must make choices between pleasures and demons, blah, blah. But my point is, while no one should be made to feel less of a person, less worthy, because of their image/weight, people who are oveweight or struggle with weight (and I include myself) should not deny the very real health issue at stake and hide behind thr bravado of "big and beautiful" because beauty and image should not be the heart of the matter. It is the happy medium of striving for a body that is fit and healthy within the build and metabolism fate granted us...curvy and voluptuous, or short and stocky, or tall and willowy...all of those can be considered healthy and are fairly independent of the fat/muscle ratio. In the end we have to be aware of the nature what we eat and the amount of energy we expend, the constant drive of consumerism, and the psychological role of food in our culture and our personal lives and act to counter those forces in the same way we do self breast exams and schedule yearly pap smears or any other effort to maintain our health and prevent the advance of debilitating diseases.
Ok, rant over. Thank you for putting up with me...I know the struggle and have seen what is ultimately at stake. Focusing on the words of one man we do not know on any personal level regarding his own personal challenges should not be a driving force in our day to day lives, as has already been stated by Serai and several others. So thank you, ladies, for your reality check!
-helene36

Re: Well said!

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Good points. However, I would also point out that a large percentage of that "overweight" population (larger than most people would realize) comes, not from people actually getting bigger, but from our culture's unrealistic changes in what we consider bigger. When I was a kid, the only women who were as thin as girls aspire to be today were a spate of freakishly skinny models that cropped up around 1965 or so (the most famous of them being Twiggy). Their ascendancy didn't last, and the beautiful girls of the later sixties and seventies had more realistic bodies. It wasn't until the fitness crazes of the '80s that the pressure towards "zero body fat" began. This is an extremely unhealthy trend, as it throws off the whole structure of the human body - fat is there for a number of reasons, and all of them are important to the body's functioning.

So what was considered perfectly fine 40-50 years ago is now considered overweight, and what used to be considered maybe not so good is now called really fat. Yes, weight gain is a big problem, for all the reasons you state. But it's also the way we look at ourselves that has caused this "epidemic". Were our ideas of what is healthy actually healthy, not only would the numbers of the "obese" look different, our attitude towards ourselves would, in and of itself, encourage behavior that would keep us truly healthy.

I'm fat myself. But what you may find interesting is that I've never had a problem with it. The only problems I've ever had with my weight are the ones I've incurred by fighting against my body. A radical diet three years ago left me with a heart condition, and the psychological battles I've had because of feeling wrong, lazy, etc., have taken their toll, as well. My body has never lost weight easily, and I'm physically calmest and happiest when I allow it to settle at the weight where it's comfortable - which, incidentally, is about 25-30 pounds heavier than it's "supposed" to be. At that level, I neither gain nor lose, but remain in a steady state that is most comfortable.

Yet I'm constantly bombarded by the idea that this is wrong, and that I have no willpower, and that I'm unhealthy - despite all evidence to the contrary. And that pisses me off. I don't like being told I'm sick or ugly when I'm clearly just as I'm designed to be. I don't like being browbeaten into ruining my health just because other people don't want to see a real person. I don't like hearing someone like Sean, who is so attractive as Sam partly because he wears the weight so well, calling himself fat and ugly - not because I feel bad for me, but because I feel bad for him.

And I'm sick to death of hearing stories about kids killing themselves because they've been convinced that 10 or 20 pounds extra is going to be the death of them. That's where the weight problem starts - in the mindset of fear and paranoia, and the lifelong behavior it starts up. Yeah, our food is crap. Yeah, we're raising kids that move less every day. But we're not only poisoning our bodies, we're poisoning our minds. And that's an enormous part of the "obesity epidemic", if not the root of the whole thing.