Comments on: Good Fat People, Bad Fat People

By: windfromthenorth

windfromthenorth — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:46:03 +0000

What it all goes down with is can fat people be attractive or not – what people really are doing is saying that J.K.Rowling has purposefully depicted fat people as unattractive and “bad” and skinny people attractive and “good”.
Dudley is a good argumentation point for that.
However, there are a number of “bad” and unattractive characters that are depicted to be skinny – for example Snape (with his yellowish uneven teeth and oily hair)is very often mentioned to be skinny. Even though he didn’t turn out to be all that bad in the end, his charesteristics as a horrid teacher with an unpleasant personality hardly can be called attractive. And as someone already mentioned, Dudley turned out to not be so bad either.
When it comes to obese but attractive and good characters Molly Weasley is a good example: even though she’s often mentioned to be heavy has she ever been depicted as unattractive by her looks or by her personality traits? If Rowling would think fat people can’t be attractive, surely she would have made a bigger point out of her unattractiveness. Even Neville, being fat, has never actually been called unattractive, and is one of the most well-liked characters. One other clearly good-looking character is Madame Rosmerta, who is called curvy. Obviously curvy can also mean thin but big hips and breasts, but her being middlle-aged it is likely that she isn’t all that skinny either.
Fleur Delacour, being both thin and pretty, is actually not that likeable of a character. Even though she isn’t a bad character, she is very vain and belittles people who don’t care about their looks as much as she does. She seems to be overlooked in her opinions by the lead characters and actually ridiculed at, readers can’t really take her obsession over her looks seriously (such as in the fourth book her fussing over getting too fat for her yule dress because of the heavy food in Hogwarts – Hermione makes a joke about it. As well as Fleur saying in the seventh book that Tonks should’ve taken better care of herself and nobody really listens to her opinion). Clearly the lead characters don’t think of it as a big deal.
The reason for my long rambling is that in my opinion Rowling has just used obesity as one physical trait characters might or might not have and uses it to her advantage – Snape is often called bat-like, for example. Dudley’s obesity is probably just meant to enhance the difference between his and Harry’s life situation; in other words Dudley getting whatever he wants without any control by a parent and Harry not getting even the normal amount of food and care-taking. Obesity isn’t clearly even the only trait that is meant to be unattractive: his hair is thin and flat, his eyes small and watery. Rowling continuously uses unusual traits to colour up her world, and whether it’s freckles that look like pimples (like in Ron’s case), or a magical glass eye in a face full of scars, or bony knees, it’s meant to make it easier for the reader to get into the books and enjoy the vivid language. If you really want to blame someone for unfavouring obese people, blame writers like Stephanie Meyer. How many characters in Twilight happen to be obese or even unattractive? Rowling has written a series of books that are truly accessible by a normal-looking reader and created a world where people are accepted because of their talents or good traits and not because of their looks, like in the real world sadly often happens.

By: Sabusabu

Sabusabu — Fri, 22 May 2009 04:20:39 +0000

Truth is that there is prejudice about fat people, good reads with fat people in them… The never ending story by Michael Ende and Sodom’s x a song for the end by K.R.Columbus. The first can be found in any store…the later is a pretty rare find but is worth it, it has atleast 4 fat characters and they are unique i bought mine here

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/sodoms-x–a-song-for-the-end-/7182389

Any other books with fat characters?

By: Glen

Glen — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:57:07 +0000

I am not a Harry Potter fan so I can’t comment on the characters, but if a work of fiction can depict fat folks in a positive light then I an all for it.

By: Big Fat Deal » Is Harry Potter Pro-Fat?

Big Fat Deal » Is Harry Potter Pro-Fat? — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:16:13 +0000

[...] to Manolo for the Big Girl, Harry Potter is pro-fat. (Although I have to say, I hardly think giants count.) (Also, since when is Neville Longbottom [...]

By: Manolo's Shoe Blog: Shoes, Fashion, Celebrity, and Manolo!

Manolo's Shoe Blog: Shoes, Fashion, Celebrity, and Manolo! — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:06:26 +0000

[...] Francesca… While I notice that, at first glance, a few of the overweight characters are stereotypically written as “bumbling” or “jovial,” on the whole the overweight good guys blend seamlessly into the good-guy group. [...]

By: daniel renzi

daniel renzi — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:43:15 +0000

And there’s the Fat Lady in the Gryffindor Tower portrait. She’s difficult, but she’s on the good side.

By: Kimmels

Kimmels — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:46:05 +0000

I think that Dudley’s being overweight is also meant to show how the Dursleys practically starved Harry – it isn’t meant to comment on Dudley’s moral character but how much they dislike and neglect Harry in favor of their own son, and what terrible parents they are, giving Dudley sugary sweets as pacifiers constantly, along with everything else he wants.

By: gemdiva

gemdiva — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:52:52 +0000

Very well said. I have always thought that since all the Potter characters each seem to have a physical eccentricity (Dumbledore’s beard, Ron’s red hair, Harry’s glasses & scar, Hagrid’s size, etc.) their differences only serve to make each one more interesting and do not cause them to be type cast or out casts. How wonderful it would be to live in a world where the loss of an eye or various limbs (a la Mad Eye Moody) was seen as an opportunity to improve on nature (his revolving eye) rather than as a disability. Too bad more folks don’t think like J.K. Rowling.

By: Bridey

Bridey — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:46:14 +0000

I’m a passionate Potter-ite, and I’m delighted to see this here. I don’t have a problem with any particular fat character being evil (and Dudley isn’t even fat through all the books). In Rowling’s world, fat is just one of the things people are, rather than shorthand for “weak and stupid.” And anyway, every fat character in media doesn’t have to represent the entire State of Fatness!

In passing, for a very different take on fatness, take a look at Reginald Hill’s Dalziel-Pascoe books. Dalziel’s overwhelming size is invested with many meanings — none of them having to do with weakness, stupidity or sloth. And they’re wonderful mysteries!