With a rare night to myself and alone I sat down to rewatch the 1959 Hitchcock classic; North by Northwest, starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. Amazing flick that never won any academy awards because it was up against Ben Hur.
One thing that I had never noticed before, was all the people in the background in the scene at the cafeteria at the base of Mt. Rushmore. As I watched the movie, I noticed the clothing, the decor and the outfits all screaming 1959. It looked so different than today, but it should have and I couldn't understand why. Then it struck me: no fat people. None. Zip. Zero. You look at movies now, which represent our current society and just about every person, even the "normal" sized, look obese next to 1950s Americans.
I then looked at all the old photo albums I got when my Dad died. Pics of every part of America between the late 40s up to 2010. I focused on people in the background of these pics. No fat people. Then I recalled that this year 245 players in the NFL (20.7%) weigh over 300 pounds. I read more. In 1969 the single heaviest player in the nfl weighed 300 pounds exactly. In 56 years weighing over 300 pounds has gone from an exception to the rule, to "normal".
For the youngsters: the same applies to strip clubs. What is "normal" today in most clubs is a dancer who would have no chance at being hired 50 years ago. Damn there are so many things I miss about the past.
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last commentYes, I was born in 1956 and have noticed rising weights. I do not think it is primarily a change in exercise habits. In the early sixties people already watched television and rode around in cars all the time. It seems to be a change in the quantity and quality of food eaten. People eat out more now and the portion sizes in restaurants are huge. A higher fat diet like the one eaten earlier leads to satiety. Widespread cigarette smoking back then, while unhealthy, acted as an appetite suppressant.
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^ I mostly agree with you, but there were 3 television channels when I was a kid and one tv. Tv was called "the idiot box" and we were limited in hours watched. The first time I saw a color tv was the first super bowl. People walked. Kids played outside. Children rode bikes (nothing more laughable than some fatso on an electric bike) and ran around. A creamsicle from the ice cream truck was a weekly, not daily treat.
In the year 5555, your arms are hangin limp at your side; your legs have nothing to do, some machines doing that for you. Zager and Evans, in the year 2525. bing.com
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Exactly! Same thing occurred to me watching the Woodstock movie. Curly from the 3 stooges was comically fat. Today, he wouldn’t stand out at all. Agree on strip clubs/dancers as well. Maybe Ozempic will change things? Instead spending on boob jobs maybe get a GLP-1 prescription?
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What about height? As time has gone on and people have gotten wider, they’ve also gotten taller.
Those were simpler times. When you left work, you didn’t work. Today that’s a different story for almost everyone. Is it safe to say it’s virtually impossible to be a single earner for a family income these days? I think these are all factors to increases in stress which often equals more weight, in addition to bad food options. I am guilty of this as many of us are, choosing a bad food option merely for convenience or because we are pressed for time.
And as for the weight, just about every product is loaded with sugar these days, from your tortilla chips to your soup.
I hope weight loss drugs can be an answer to the health problems but they still aren’t readily accessible or cheap enough for everyone, yet. I think that is changing for the better every day. I also have this fear that they may have some sort of unknown long term effect like in the movie “I Am Legend,” where everyone takes a cancer curing drugs that eventually spreads a virus that turns everyone into zombies. I know that’s far fetched but could other health issues arise for many on it long term (as in several years)? Reward outweigh the risk? Today I see a lot of well to do women (and some men) who look anorexic because they took weight loss drugs to lose that last 10-20 pounds they couldn’t get rid of simply because they can afford $1k+ a month for a drug out of pocket. These people don’t need it, they WANT it. The people that really need it, I don’t see many using it. I’m not sure if that’s by choice (doubt it) or merely access (aka) their insurance doesn’t cover it and they can’t afford it. Most current insurances will only cover Ozempic and the like if the patient has type 2 diabetes, and are not eligible if they have type 1 or are pre-diabetes. Trump mentioned Medicare covering the cost, this could be huge for many if it does happen.
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