I recently saw a picture of Jonah Hill. He has lost a lot of weight. Will he still be funny? I was thinking about how we sometimes become identified by our body type instead of our personalities. Then again maybe our personalities are formed by our body type. The jolly fat man. Fat guys aren’t dangerous. I think Santa is the archetype.
Some people are so identified by their body type that any change to the physique could change their whole world (positively or negatively) or even their livelihood. The Chris Farley Syndrome. “Fat guy in a little coat.” Farley makes me sad. His whole persona was based on his weight. He was trapped. You want to continue your career but you want to live. It seems like an easy choice but when you have a public life based upon being the “funny fat guy on Saturday Night Live” the choice isn’t as clear. Say Farley decided that he wanted to get healthy and lost a 100 pounds. He might make one more movie as a novelty but his career would be over. He would have reinvent himself. His brand of comedy. His persona. Not an easy task.
If I spent my life as a ripped out muscle guy would I be like “The Situation” from Jersey Shore? Has my time as the jolly fat guy made me different? Will I be the same guy if I get all ripped out? I hope so. Do people treat you differently at different weights? Maybe the reaction of others changes how you carry yourself. Self-confidence hopefully doesn’t morph into cockiness.
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