Judgement Day

I am not referring to the Terminator movie although I did really like it – what can I say, I am a boy – I like action movies.  It has just struck me lately that while we often judge others quietly (which is a good thing), we choose to judge others externally for only very specific acts which the zeitgeist has determined to be egregious.  Like cigarette smoking, crack, gross inebriation and bad shoes.

However, I somehow sense a massive shift in the perception of what is acceptable eating behavior and what is not and I think this comes down to an overall cultural acceptance of mediocrity.  Or, perhaps a mind set shift from when I was growing up at least.

I mean we had a set of values that I just see disappearing at a rapid rate.  And no, I am not getting old for thinking this way.  When I was a child, we were taught that kids should be seen and not heard and to look out for adults on the sidewalk and to be mindful of them and to be polite.  Our children these days are over indulged and everyone is a winner – well guess what – everyone is not a winner.  We don’t all get the gold medal.

When we have a culture that has de-emphasized doing the right thing in favor of not hurting anyone’s feelings then we’ve strayed from our responsibility to teach another generation how to treat others.  This lack of moral high ground and expectation has caused us to degenerate into a nation obsessed with overeating.

And to top it all off, this cycle perpetuates itself because when your role models are other fat people (Hello Mike and Molly) then it becomes okay to be overweight and obese.  While I may not be America’s judge like Howard Stern likes to say, I can be America’s conscience.

I know you’ve seen me in magazine commenting on women’s weight or saying things on twitter (@drfredpescatore) that may seem judgmental – but someone’s got to be the voice of reason in this obesity epidemic.  No one is screaming loudly enough.  People are too fat, eat too much and it disgusts me.  You can stop eating too much and stop eating unhealthy things but guess what, it’s going to hurt.  You will feel pain; but you’ll have to find another way to fill that void – I blog about things.

Honestly, I was joking last week when I wrote about Honey Boo Boo; yet her show rated a 2.2 – that was the largest audience ever for a TLC show; and a big audience in general.  People watch this stuff not only to get a vicarious thrill but because they see something in there that they can relate to.

Jersey Shore has released the inner guido in all of us and that is evident in how people dress everywhere now.  So, I say its time to bring back the mean judges.  Simon Cowell was a mean judge but he was honest.  Honesty does not equal mean in my opinion.  Since he’s left, that show is unwatchable; and The X Factor suffers from him not being mean enough.

Project Runway continues to be fantastic because the contestants are frightened of Nina Garcia.  One raised eyebrow from her can bring a designer to tears.  And Nina isn’t afraid to call you out on something you did wrong.  We need more of that, not only on our reality TV shows but in real life.

As Christina from Mob Wives put is all too well: Sometimes I judge but someone has to. I thought Pia was going to be stripping until hospice came for her. And you know what, Pia has given up “dancing” due to the pressure from her friends.

Fiona Wallice is probably one of the best judges of other people on TV today.  If you don’t watch Web Therapy, you are missing something.  In last week’s episode, she made a citizen arrest of a four year old because she thought toddler obesity is one of America’s biggest problems.

Like Fiona, Christina and Nina, I too judge – get ready America because this obesity epidemic isn’t going away until that fat lady who sings, isn’t fat anymore.

Who else is sick of Ramona?????

Until next time……