Popular Culture Review 29.1 (Spring 2018) | Page 59

just as healthy as you can be . This is why we are diving whole hog into making Americans live longer and taste better .” This is an example of the fatally flawed approach mentioned above . No plan . No action steps . No real outline of how to proceed . Just a message of “ just be better .” The actions of the Leviathan and their message of self-improvement , which simultaneously sabotages those receiving their message , is similar to a phenomenon found in society today . For example , while most in the health and fitness field would agree that a healthy diet and active lifestyle will result in a healthy body , those in the diet and supplement industry market products to individuals promising an “ ideal ” body without having to change their lives . However , these products are not as effective as they are purported to be as they only typically work when combined with the very things purported to be unnecessary , namely a healthy diet and exercise program . So when individuals take the supplement and engage in their typical behavior , they gain weight , thus supporting the connotation of personal failure of the fat body . Furthermore , rather than quitting the supplement and starting a proper program , they decide to take more of the supplement , thereby continuing the cycle and strengthening the laziness connotation of the fat body . These contradictory messages create a class of people who are expected to perform an action described as simple and easy to do , but at best they are not given the tools to do it , and at worst are sabotaged at every step . Once they fail , they are metaphorically “ eaten alive ” by society for their failures in the form of bodily othering , much like the Leviathan literally “ eat alive ” their fattened herd of humans .
The final aspect of othering arises from the application of the negative connotation of the fat body that occurs as a result of the characteristics society has ascribed to that body . Through its specific use of body logic , namely the failure of the fat body to change in light of the help given to it from multiple sources , society has illustrated why the fat body is lesser than the thin body and thus deserving of being othered . In the season finale “ Survival of the Fittest ,” Dick Roman reveals the final aspect of his plan and in doing so draws a strong parallel between the Leviathan and their relationship with the humans and the current thin bodied society ’ s relationship with the person in the fat body . Dick Roman ’ s strategy to streamline the “ human slaughterhouse on every corner ” plan is to kill off thin people or those who possess an IQ greater than 150 . His stated rationale for this is that he wants all of his food to be big , fat , and dumb , which essentially underscores society ’ s view of the person in the fat body and highlights the Leviathan ’ s conviction that they are superior to humans and therefore deserving of having them as a meal . It is this type of binary that is created from society ’ s thin body discourse that has created a culture where the
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