As a society, we are constantly being told that Americans are overweight; US is the “fast-food nation;” and that our children our becoming more obese every second. In fact, the “obesity-epidemic” is so ingrained into our minds that American culture would be vastly different without it. Many of the negative American stereotypes such as being greedy and over-powerful abroad are rooted in the perception of our gluttony at the dinner table. Our nation’s image as the slim hard-working “Abe Lincoln” has been replaced recently by the donut-downing Homer Simpson.
With that in mind, one would probably infer that this shift in the average American’s “typical weight” would correspond with a shift in the “typical weight” for our cultural icons as well. Since most of the public leaders of American culture come from American society itself, it would make sense that they would probably put on some extra weight similar to the rest of us. However, this is not the case. Most of the cultural megastars that appear on TV or in movies are either super-athletic professional sport players or skinny actors/actresses who conform to the Western standards of beauty. However, there is one major exception to this harsh rule of only skinny people allowed on TV: comedy.
It is true, fat people exist on TV elsewhere, but not nearly as much as they appear in comedy shows. Why? Are people with larger torsos inherently funnier than the average person? Or is it something else?
To answer this question, we must consider the essence of why people laugh. According to Thomas Hobbes:
Laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from some sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly.
In this quote, Hobbs says that we laugh for two different reasons. On the one hand, people laugh when they suddenly understand a new joke or pun. On the other hand, according to Hobbs, people laugh when they understand that someone else’s thoughts or actions are silly or foolish.
It is this second type of humor that we now focus on. In this type of humor, fat people thrive because American culture and values teach us that being overweight is a silly or foolish condition. In America, there is a strong stereotype that people gain weight by eating large amounts of donuts and cheetos, which seems like a fun but not necessarily smart activity to engage in. Thus, the fat person stereotype is one that most Americans can relate to and poke fun at simultaneously, making it the perfect foil for a comedian or comedic character. Therefore, the answer to our question is yes, our preconceived cultural notions about fat people make them inherently funnier than the average American. Score one for the big fellas!
