Still fat shaming in children's films.

I have thought over the scene with the fat child and Theodore, and that perhaps what the message was is to say if you wouldn't judge Theodore for eating food, why would you judge a fat person for eating food. Truth is, that with so much anti-fat messages being sent to children, even something like in this case, that was positive will be seen as negative simply because the past has taught us any portrayal of fat children eating must be a cruel joke. I reacted to this, and after giving thought realized this wasn't a joke against fat children, it was to teach children that if they can find love for Theodore they shouldn't make fun of fat children. In other words a anti-bullying message.

I do think it could have been done in a less old-school stereotyped way, but perhaps the point is that we haven't gotten past those old stereotypes. That if the creators of The Chipmunks can realize that they created Theodore as a fat stereotype character, and understand how that was a negative portrayal even with good meaning at heart, then we should all be able to see past the stereotypes. My view is that it probably was intended as a rather anvil like stereotype, because the point they wanted to make was "This is stupid, it was stupid then, and it's stupid now. Why are we still calling this humor?"

Instead of reacting, I should have calmed down and tried to figure it out from their perspective. I've really been working on that, but it's hard when it comes to children's films, and with Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs being an hour long proselytizing towards kids about which foods are healthy and unhealthy, and a stereotype of a fat person in a ECV. Since, we all know only lazy fat people use ECVs, and none that may have genuine health problems attributed to something outside of being fat. Since many diseases related to fatness, are based on correlation not causation.

It's sad that things have become so bad, that you can't even recognize a positive message, without assuming it must be negative because you're so sick and tired of hearing the negative, even the thought that would be brought up to children again makes you want to head desk infinity. I'm glad that the people behind The Chipmunks are making a stand against size prejudice. It didn't even occur to me, until I realized comparing this film to The Chipmunk Adventure animated film from the 80's, that they've been combating negative stereotypes of fat people with Theodore since then. There was no judgement placed on him, and it would be wonderful if more people had that perspective.

I also want to mention, in regards to breaking stereotypes, Brittany winning the Around the World in 80 Days video game was the first time I saw a female cartoon character being portrayed as good at video games. I realized watching the movie recently, that she inspired me to keep trying at gaming. I might not be able to play Halo, but gaming has really been a positive in my life. Perhaps if it wasn't for Brittany showing me that girls can beat the boys in video games, I might have not become the gamer I am today.