I am a huge fan of the television series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but I want to problematize some of the humor we often take for granted in the show. In a recent interview with Conan O’Brien, Charlie Day discusses some of the changes introduced into the upcoming season of the show. Specifically, about 1:30 in, they discuss the weight gain that Rob McElhenney (“Fat Mac”) accomplished in pursuit of a “funnier” character (image via):
Notice how Charlie Day and Conan laugh—freely and unapologetically—at the prospect of Mac contracting diabetes (especially Conan’s mocking “Go America!” response to the image of “Fat Mac”):
Continue watching the interview to the 4:45 mark; Conan broaches the topic of mental retardation contained in an earlier episode (Season 3 Episode 9: “Sweet Dee’s Dating a Retarded Person”). You will notice that Charlie Day seems more hesitant and calculated in discussing the topic of mental disability. For one, he uses the word “mental disability” rather than the more pejorative “retarded.” You will also notice less of an audience response, a less raucous reaction to the prospect of someone being mentally disabled than to them being fat.
Mental disability, as a largely ascribed status, serves as a less-viable source of humor. That is, laughing at someone who is born a particular way, or gains that status for reasons beyond their control, violates our precepts of political correctness. However, being overweight is often interpreted as caused by a personal character flaw (laziness, gluttony, etc.) and therefore an achieved status. Laughing at fat people, then, is not only socially acceptable, but often encouraged in American comedy.
This highlights the centrality of individualism and personal responsibility in American society. We hold the obese and the overweight accountable for their corporeal deviations. We tend to believe that those who are overweight (and those who contract Type 2 Diabetes) are responsible for their conditions. It then becomes socially acceptable to mock them. On the flipside, mental disability, as an ascribed status, is more likely to be defined as “off limits” as a source of humor. When it becomes a source of humor, as in this case, comedians must save face by saying things like “Nothing against the mentally disabled, but…” as Charlie does at the 5:25 mark—a form of hedging he didn’t feel obliged to include when laughing at someone’s weight.
Who we can laugh at, and whether we have to apologize for doing so, reveals larger cultural discourses, and analyzing humor allows us to understand some of the prevailing moral assumptions we take for granted.
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David Paul Strohecker (@dpsFTW) is getting his PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park. He studies issues of intersectionality, consumption, and popular culture. He is currently doing work on the popularization of tattooing, a project on the revolutionary pedagogy of public sociology, and more theoretical work on zombie films as a vehicle for expressing social and cultural anxieties. He previously wrote for the blog Racism Review and currently blogs at Cyborgology.
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Comments 35
Sam R. — October 26, 2011
I think you miss most of the point of their discussions. They aren't laughing at fat people. The laughs from the audience, as well as from the guest and host, come from the juxtapositions between (1) the skinny, serious photo and the fifty-pound-heavier, jolly photo; (2) the character Mac's belief in his own muscle mass and his actual decidedly non-muscle weight; (3) the lighthearted, traditional I Love Lucy and a plot of a main character gaining diabetes. At no point is the humor here actually a matter of laughing at fat people for being fat.
Similarly, in the aired clip, a shallow viewing allows one to conclude that the audience is laughing at a boy in a beauty pageant. Embracing the gender binary! For cheap laughs! How lowbrow. But in fact, see where the audience laughs: the main characters acting as though they are some sort of electronica performance group; the woman smoking a joint... these are juxtaposed with the apparently mainstream and conventional setting, complete with an audience of parents, at the pageant.
William Ryan Force — October 26, 2011
The comedy in Mac's turn for the heavy is that he, like Dennis and Dee, are incredibly vain and judgmental toward those they perceive as unattractive. Especially in the episode from this season where Mac and Dennis go to the doctor together, we find that the "attractive" and thin Dennis is just as unhealthy as Mac albeit in a different way. I think Sunny does an excellent job of juxtaposing the beliefs of the characters with their own practices -- a very Sociological move, if you ask me.
Likewise, when Dee dates Lil' Kevin and others speculate about his mental disability they turn out to be 1) wrong and 2) much more foolish themselves. Lil' Kevin's juvenile behavior and manner of speaking is evidence of his disability to "the gang" despite their own sociopathic, irrational, and sophomoric scheming. It also turns out that Lil' Kevin is able to verbally humiliate Dee for her assumptions, demonstrating he is much more articulate and clever than they anticipated.
Mae Spires — October 26, 2011
A lot of these comments pretty much sound like, "I like laughing at fat people and feeling superior. Now I'm going to justify it, so that I don't have to feel like a bad person." Really, ask yourself: Why are you so invested in making sure everyone knows that you think it's fat people's own fault that they're fat?
And even if weight *is* exactly as simple as you believe (which is far from a given), it doesn't mean much. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a person without flaws. Would you like it if you had to wear a sign on your body 24/7 listing yours, allowing people to mock and criticize you incessantly about them?
Sarah — October 27, 2011
Making fun of someone else and hurting their feelings is mean.
If someone is doing something to themselves like overeating, cutting, smoking, or drug abuse it doesn't help them if people are mean to them.No one can maintain saint-like behavior at all times, but why try to justify behavior you know is morally wrong? We are discussing the foundation of morality. It's basic, pre-kindergarten stuff. It is not complicated. There is plenty of humor to go around. Self deprecating humor is usually better than humor that denigrates an "other".
pduggie — October 27, 2011
The "funny" thing to me is that my doctor seems to think my weight is lowerable, and i could avoid type 2 diabetes by achievement.
I'll try to problematize his mere interpretation when I see him next.
Wallyarr2000 — November 17, 2011
McElhenny DELIBERATELY gained the weight, and that's what makes it funny; however, as a 150-pounder whose 1-year-older brother (a big-time "gamer") is 250 pounds, I will say there is a certain amount of truth to the fact that, often, you don't get fat by accident.
I have also fought juvenile (rheumatoid) arthritis (severe form) since age 4 and have beaten more than 20 surgeries. My bro can't even come close to doing that. You may be right, and there are, obviously, exceptions, but to a large degree being a big out-of-shape fatass is a personal choice, and please never compare it again to a disability.
Thank you.