Rotund Rednecks

While America as a whole nation is viewed as overweight, certain regions of the country clearly identify more strongly with the portly stereotype than other regions do.  The region that I am going to focus on today is the South.  While the South might not be home to all of the big bellies in the US, it is certainly home to some of the funniest.  In fact, the chubbiness of many Southern characters and comedians goes a long way to making us laugh at the redneck stereotypes of the South.

One overweight redneck comedian who immediately comes to mind as a classic example of this sort of humor is Larry the Cable Guy.  Larry the Cable Guy takes the chubby country bumpkin stereotype to the extreme in his stand-up comedy routines.  His stage character loves huntin’, fishin’, and Nascar and speaks in a really Southern drawl.  While his jokes and personal anecdotes are humorous, Larry’s outward appearance and delivery of the jokes is really what makes us laugh at his stand-up routine.

On stage, Larry almost always wears a camouflage baseball cap and a sleeveless button-down top, the same sort of outfit that one would wear fishing.  The sleeveless button-down shirt accentuates Larry’s chubby arms and sizeable beer-belly, making him appear to be even heavier than his normal weight of 282 pounds.  

The contrast between the formal codes of dress that are expected of stage performers and Larry the Cable Guy’s actual appearance on his show is humorous.  Even if it does not make us laugh directly, Larry’s striking appearance facilitates our mental construction of a goofy redneck guy that we find funny.  In this way, Larry the Cable Guy’s exaggerated overweight appearance allows us to view an exaggerated redneck southern stereotype which creates humor. 

As a side note, I should mention that Larry the Cable Guy recently lost 50 pounds in 2008, bringing him down from 282 pounds to 232 pounds.  After losing this weight, Larry the Cable Guy reportedly exclaimed: “I lost so much weight, I’m down an Olsen!”

Humongous Homer

“Donuts.  Is there anything they can’t do?” –Homer Simpson

Most of you who are reading this blog about fat people in American Humor realized that it was only a matter of time before I brought up Homer Simpson.  In many ways, the inherent humor of the blubbery bunch is epitomized in the character of Homer, who represents the stereotypical beer-bellied suburban dad in America.  Homer Simpson utilized his aura of loveable chubbiness to reach new heights in American humor.  In fact, quite a large percent of the jokes and humor in The Simpsons is based off Homer’s tastes for large quantities of fatty foods.  Specifically, donuts are a recurring theme in the show, as was shown by Homer’s profound insight stated above. 

One episode that particularly comes to mind that exemplifies the focus on fattiness in The Simpsons is “King-sized Homer.”  In this episode, Homer learns that if he gains 61 pounds, he will be classified by the government as “obese” and will be able to get disability benefits.  Despite warnings from the female members of the Simpson family that this might be unhealthy, Homer quickly embarks upon his quest to gain weight with the help of his son Bart.  After consuming mountains of highly caloric foods along with a donut that Bart makes out of play-doh, Homer achieves his goal by gaining 61 pounds in one week.  

Once Homer is obese, his overweight character and appearance become more extreme.  Homer starts to wear a muu-muu because he is too big for normal clothes, and he is not allowed into a movie theatre because of he is too large for the seats.  His wife Marge gets angry at him for being fat and lazy, and Homer shirks his duties as a safety inspector for the nuclear power plant to cause a nuclear malfunction.  Luckily, Homer is able to save the day by stopping the explosion with his large girth, and he becomes a town hero for stopping the next Chernobyl.  The episode ends when Homer gets a liposuction to become thin again as his reward for saving the town.  

The “King-Size Homer” episode reflects the mixed feelings that we have toward obese people in American society.  While “King-size Homer” acts gluttonous and lazy throughout the episode, we still sympathize with Homer because he is the underdog who faces adversity and gets made fun of for being obese.  One scene in particular when we cheer for “King-size Homer” as the underdog occurs when the nuclear power plant is about to explode.  Since Homer is too large to drive a normal car or use a skateboard, he hijacks an ice cream truck and races it to get to the exploding nuclear power plant.  In many ways, the ice cream truck acts as Homer’s “superhero” vehicle, similar to the “Batmobile” in Batman.  Overall, Homer Simpson uses his large size in this episode to create this image of a hilarious obese superhero that we can laugh at and root for simultaneously.