American Idol or big fatty? Ask the diet-obsessed talking head!
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Posted by Andi Zeisler May 25th, 2007 |
Our new American Idol, 17-year-old Jordin Sparks, hadn’t even claimed her title on Wednesday’s finale when her weight came under scrutiny. Yeah, the criticism came from a woman who looks like she could barely consume an entire cocktail frank by herself. And okay, the forum for the critique was Neil Cavuto’s Your World show on Fox News. But can’t we give little Jordin at least a couple days of untainted happiness before hauling out the insults and directives?
Nope, says the improbably but perhaps appropriately named anti-obesity advocate
MeMe Roth.Talking to Cavuto and perplexed-looking Newsweek contributor Ramin Setoodeh, Roth said that she would rather see finalist Blake Lewis take the prize, because America doesn’t need an “obese” Idol. “When I look at her, I see diabetes, I see heart disease” she said of Sparks, and then smugly predicted that the newly anointed star would promptly drop 40 pounds. Hear her in all her glory:
I was a Melinda Doolittle fan myself, but watching this made me want to kick this Ann Coulter manqué in her brittle shins. First of all, she’s missing the point—if all AI viewers wanted was a skinny winner, Sparks and fellow regular- and plus-sized belters Doolittle, Gina Glocksen, and Lakisha Jones would never have made it to the semis. And I would wager that of the millions of viewers who loved themselves some Jordin, a sizable number were young women and men who were psyched to see themselves reflected in the decidedly un-Lohanlike, healthy-looking teenager on the stage.
But perhaps more important, who is this MeMe Roth and where does she get off? A quick search on Roth reveals her to be the founder of National Action Against Obesity (according to the New York Times, it’s more like MeMe’s National Action Against Obesity, as she’s the only one behind the site) and a self-styled expert whose claim to fame is that she started something called the Wedding Gown Challenge, wherein women are, well, challenged to maintain their wedding-day weight for a lifetime. (“Dump your friends who plan to grow fatter with every year. Surround yourself with those who aspire to greater things.”) Plus, she’s called for a boycott of Girl Scout to cookies and has lobbied parents to stop serving cupcakes at kids parties.
So basically, she’s the devil. Healthy eating is wonderful. Tofu is tasty. But I think it’s safe to say that anyone who’s against Girl Scout cookies and cupcakes has no soul whatsoever. Thankfully, the word is out about Ms. Roth: her zealous efforts to rid her local Philadelphia YMCA of ice cream, syrups, and sprinkles that had been put out for members resulted in a call to local police. Between that and the drubbing she’s received on other blogs, maybe Me!Me! will keep her food issues to herself next time.
May 25th, 2007 20:49
Diabetes and heart disease are rampant in my family, in fact, my closest loved ones have died from complications from those diseases. Because of this, I try very hard to model healthy exercise and eating habits to my daughter. Additionally, anorexia has reared its ugly head in my family, and because of THAT I strive to show my daughter that I am personally happy with my not-Roth-esque figure.
Criticizing a beautiful and talented teenager in the name “health” is a thin facade for what Roth is really doing - hating everyone who is “fat,” which according to her means not skinny as a rail.
You can’t tell a person’s blood pressure, cholesterol level, and diabetic risk merely by looking at them! You can’t tell a person’s exercise or eating habits by looking at them either. I truly hope Jordin is a strong enough young woman to NOT take this idiotic ridicule to heart.
May 26th, 2007 16:23
Much as I’ve never watched AI, I have to say this is one reason I like Kelly Clarkson–she eats–and some of what I’ve read about Katherine McPhee–she’s gone public with an eating disorder. I hope there’s more discussion of health not equaling thin and great young women getting to feel great about who they are. If AI does contribute to that, then, well, I still won’t watch it but I’ll be glad it’s there to be counterprogramming against the models and Bachelors and such.
May 27th, 2007 08:49
Sarah, I wish that AI did contribute to healthy young women feeling good about themselves, but this was the first season that several young women of various shaped and sizes were allowed to rise through the competitions — I think partially because of pressure on the judges related to their treatment of former contestant Jennifer Hudson, who won an Oscar this year but was deried for her weight by Simon Cowell when she was on the show last year. In any case, over the past six seasons, a great deal of young, healthy, attractive women were told by Simon Cowell that they had to lose weight if they wanted to succeed as a singer — even though the young women he was telling this to were often not particularly overweight. Yet he would tell morbidly obese singer Ruben Studdard that no one should thinka bout anything other than his voice when deciding whether to vote for him, since AI is a “search for a recording artist.” Too bad AI is a “search for a recording artist” mostly when the contestants are male, and a singing-plus-beauty-pageant when the contestants are female.
May 27th, 2007 15:06
Jenn, Seems like the show itself is a bust for women except when they use their power to be role models. How unsurprising yet disappointing too.
May 29th, 2007 10:19
“aspire to greater things”!!
that is the funniest thing i’ve heard all day.
September 7th, 2009 11:31
Big problem with American diet is the consumption of excess quantities of fats. The average American consumes 40% of her/ his calories in the form of fat.
July 23rd, 2010 05:02
I believe Donald Trump would be a much better American Idol judge compared with Harry Connick Jr. - Trump is not afraid to voice what he thinks and can be as outspoken as Simon Cowell.