Shrek movies

Princess Fiona

Yes, she gets rescued in the beginning of the first one, but goes on to open some serious cans of whup-ass.

Ms Harris, no need to be so dismissive of the opinion of your readers here. Of course we understand stereotypes, and how bad (or good -- Darwinianly speaking) stereotyping can be. With fat people, there's of course the health issues involved; but if a fat person is willing to put up with them, that's OK with me. Same thing for smokers, by the way.

Maybe the point of Broadsheet is to complain about what you think isn't right. And don't get me wrong, this is in itself a good thing. But every now and then, I'd like to see Broadsheet comment on an ad, or a game, or a movie, that actually does get it right in their opinion. Any ads, games or movies lately that strike you as having equal-oportunity, no-stereotyping, good-for-feminism messages? Especially if by men, to show they're getting the message?

I can't believe an industry that targets juveniles would have products so rife with juvenile stereotyping. The game industry should take its cue from the makers of teen comedies and eschew all stereotyping.

Sarcasm aside, couldn't you find a better quote, or write your own analysis, that didn't itself stoop to the juvenile level by using words like "dewd-gamers" and "dumbasses"? And I hate to break it to you but there will be plenty of chick-gamers who will find the concept amusing, nevermind that most of the consumers of this game will themselves be obese or otherwise malnourised.

Hmmm....

Call me old-fashioned, elitist, troll-esque, or whatever-you-please.....but?...

It was just recently that I read some broadsheet article(the one about the t-shirts, I believe) which ended with the huffy author's asking what sort of "sick fuck" would find the t-shirt amusing.

And, this morning, I read about "dumbasses".....

My 14 year old twin nephews would probably use the terms "sick fuck" and "dumbass" if their mother wasn't, as a general rule, around to pop them across the back of their heads and tell them to talk like a grown-up if they have something to say.

I've gathered that my TRUCK is older than most of the writers for Broadsheet...but, even given that, could you stop writing so sophomorically? It would require nothing more than the minimal self-editing evinced by the writers for every other section of Salon.

Your all-too-regular, affected "outrage" and cultivatedly offended-sensibilities aren't necessarily validated by your writing like a stupid, teenage boy who's trying to sound tough.

Quite sincerely,

David Terry

www.davidterryart.com

(click on the "Contact the Troll" icon to reach me personally....)

Dear Ms. Harris....

...And, yes, I'm aware that you were quoting someone else's use of the word "dumbasses".

Something tells me that someone's going to snipe-ishly point out that fact.

thanks,

david terry

Hey there, I just read your posting, which seems to have come in as I was writing mine.

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who wonders why I should pay to subsidize writing that I wouldn't have accepted back when I was teaching prepskoolerz.

---david terry

if she were a sphere that rolled over other units! ;)

Seriously, I'm trying to understand the umbrage here.

Is it because the NPC is a princess or is it because the only woman character in the game is a NPC and not a PC? Is she really much of a character at all and not just a mac guffin? Or is the whole issue with the fact that she's fat? Or that someone would dare put a fat woman non-player-character in a game? Coz if that's the case, sheesh I gotta tell you this has been done to DEATH.

Honestly, I don't get it at all. One thing I do get is that you fine folks here at Broadsheet should probably start being a little more selective on which bloggers articles you choose to re-purpose for salon page views.

Some of it is pretty bad. Like this one.

The prototypical online gamer (at least the kind that burn their free time posting on message boards and blogs)

...as opposed to the 'feministe blogger' who burns her free time writing on blogs. I love how a new generation of mediocre wannabe journalists have the incredulity to look down upon those exactly like them who simply don't have some half-assed joke of a paycheck to convince them they are 'reporters.'

And of course, absolutely anyone who eats a lot is going to balloon up into a spherical caricature of a heavy person, right? That’s how fat people get made!

...No, of course fat people don't get fat from eating. They get fat from... Oh, wait, that's right, we do get fat from eating. Dirty secret, there may be a number of reasons, both physical and psychological, for why fat people eat, but no one ever got fat not eating -- it is physiologically impossible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feederism

--------------

It's interesting that every woman out there has at least one physical aspect that is considered sexually arousing and/or fetish worthy by guys...

You have big boobs? There are guys that are into that.

Small boobs? No worries, there are guys into that too.

Big ass? There are guys that are into that.

No ass? There are guys that are into that.

Really hairy? There are guys that are into that.

Hairless / shaved? There are guys that are into that.

Skinny? There are guys that are into that.

Average size / athletic? There are guys that are into that.

You are a fat-positive, 400 lb SSBBW who demands society shower you with nothing but esteem-affirming compliments as you inhale your 14th Krispy Kreme of the day?

Yup, u guessed it: There are guys that are into that!

**************

Sadly, it doesn't work the other way gender-wise...

When was the last time you heard of women who were into men with belly paunches?

Or men with small penii?

While I agree that the representation of fat people as cake gobbling lumps of lard unable or unwilling to move on their own, I can't help but worry if this is worth getting upset about? It's a video game, which are primarily played by young men. Sooner or later, they'll figure out that there are plenty of fat people who are active and eat healthy, moderately sized meals. They'll also figure out that most women aren't as perfect as video game babes. I think that's something everyone understands.

What I think is upsetting is the culture's idea of what a fat person is. I read an article in a men's magazine that's headline said something like Fat is the New Hot! It had a picture of a piglet in high heels. Intrigued, I turned the page to see Scarlet Johansen, Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci, and Katherine Heigle all named as fat chicks who were also hot. None of these women are disturbingly, bonily, thin in that way that just screams they have an eating disorder, but if not appearing to have an eating disorder is enough to qualify a woman as "fat," well then, we have a problem.