Weekly Theme

Weekly Theme for August 18: Fat Kids

After recently watching The Goonies for the umpteenth time, I was reminded how children of a more rotund nature are more often than not prevalent motif in films. Typically without anything more than being chubby, these characters are included because, well, fat kids are funny. I know, I know, but being that I was a fat kid myself, I do recognize the inherent comedy in it as much as Hollywood and the rest of the world apparently does. With that said, where's the beef?

Undoubtedly one of the worst films portraying fat kids was surprisingly one of my favorite films as a kid: The Monster Squad. The fat kid, who is referred to simply as "Fat Kid" throughout the movie, typifies this kind of character that we see so often: always eating something, says stupid things and sporadically farts and/or belches at inopportune moments.

Similarly, as mentioned above, The Goonies features the lovable "Chunk" who yet again is forced to endure embarrassing jokes from his friends (i.e the Truffle Shuffle) and is always complaining that he's hungry.

The movie that actually scared the crap out of me and got me to start eating less and change my ways as a kid was the filmic adaptation of Lord of the Flies in which the fat character "Piggy" is constantly ridiculed and tormented by his svelte classmates and eventually meets a harrowing fate at the bottom of a cliff.

One of the grossest instances has to be in Stand By Me when the story of "Lard Ass" is told. Lard Ass enters a pie eating contest and to get retribution against the townsfolk that ridicule him daily decides to down a bottle of castor oil beforehand so that the dozen or so blueberry pies he devours are eventually expelled all over the spectators.

Lastly, we have Angus. I love this movie about the prototypical fat kid, who against all odds, actually wins out in the end and strikes a blow against fat kid haters everywhere.

There are countless more, but I'll let all of you expound on this week's theme for a bit. So, like me in a game of dodgeball, I'm out!

Re:Weekly Theme for August 18: Fat Kids

Your mention of dodgeball triggered a memory of Ben Stiller in Heavyweights.

I can remember an afterschool special narrated by Hulk Hogan about how he was unhealthy when he was a child.

Re:Weekly Theme for August 18: Fat Kids

I always think about The Sandlot, with Hamilton "Ham" Porter, the chunky kid who fancied himself in the same vein as Babe Ruth.

Re:Weekly Theme for August 18: Fat Kids

You know the movies aren't any kinder to fat kids when they get in high school or college. It is the fat kid, Twins, who can't cut it in Annapolis, but (on the plus side) he does teach James Franco how to eat a lot of candy bars.

While Lard Ass is the fattest kid in Stand by Me, I was wondering if you left Vern off the hook, because Jerry O'Connell really buffed up as an adult?

Re:Weekly Theme for August 18: Fat Kids

I love the scene in Billy Madison when the fat kid says "I can't wait 'till I get to hike school." The Sandler grabs him by his fat face: "Don't ever say that, STAY AS LONG AS YOU CAN."

Re:Weekly Theme for August 18: Fat Kids

I do like the trend of shying away from the negative perception of overweight kids and giving them the chance to do more than make snarky comments about exercise and fart jokes (not that fart jokes are entirely bad) like in Little Miss Sunshine (Abigail Breslin was more chubby than fat - i.e. the little tummy pad they made her wear) and Superbad (in which Jonah Hill is moreso a horned up  dweeb than the fat guy).

Re:Weekly Theme for August 18: Fat Kids

SkyPilot:

Your mention of dodgeball triggered a memory of Ben Stiller in Heavyweights.

I can remember an afterschool special narrated by Hulk Hogan about how he was unhealthy when he was a child.

Haha, yeah. I remember thinking after I saw that movie that Ben Stiller should definitely star doing some horror movies. He definitely scared the crap out of me in his neon spandex unitard.

Re:Weekly Theme for August 18: Fat Kids

mercurial:

Undoubtedly one of the worst films portraying fat kids was surprisingly one of my favorite films as a kid: The Monster Squad. The fat kid, who is referred to simply as "Fat Kid" throughout the movie, typifies this kind of character that we see so often: always eating something, says stupid things and sporadically farts and/or belches at inopportune moments.

Heh, I thought you might mention Monster Squad as soon as the subject of this week was mentioned.  "Wolfman's got nards!"  Sadly the actor who portrayed him died at the age of 22, the same way Bernie Mac went.

Also, I thought of Donkey Lips in the TV show Salute Your Shorts.  Having Donkey Lips farting on your head was one of Budnick's biggest threats.  I can understand why having a fat kid sit on your head would be horrible, just the crushing weight.  But why is it that a fat kid's farts are assumed to be more potent than any other kid's?