Many media discussions of obesity conclude by saying we fat people are stupid if we don't devote all our energy toward losing weight.

This documentary was sympathetic to fat people. It said research on how to lose weight and keep it off is scarce. It says there are numerous causes for obesity and there won't be a one-size-fits-all explanation, no pun intended.

It even included a woman who seemed to be a part of the fat acceptance movement. She asks, "Why am I fat and healthy, but my thin sister has had three forms of cancer?"

This work doesn't beat up on people in the slightest. It does mention early death, fertility problems, and blindness due to diabetes: it's not that the sad stuff doesn't come up.

A conspicuous fact of this film is that it focuses upon VERY FAT people. Interviewees looked more like Big Pun than Jim Belushi. They were 350 pounds plus, rather than just in the high 100s or low 200s. Have you ever seen a plus-size model and thought, "Gee, they're not that fat!"?

This work features "real" fat people who are big, big, big. I appreciate that they didn't whitewash the group.

The fat interviewees are diverse in terms of age, gender, and ethnicity. It includes an Arab Muslim family that have accents and bravado like many New York City residents.

The last segment includes Latinas speaking in Spanish with English subtitles supplied. Though the work includes men and women, you can tell that women are more of their target audience. The chubby wife of a fat man says, "Fat women face more stigmatization than fat men." I'm a fat man and I agree.

The work focuses on the fat subjects, rather than on narration and experts. In fact, I think it only included maybe three researchers.

Too often, women are only given the chance to narrate documentaries covering famous women. Here, Meredith Vieira narrates on a somewhat gender-neutral topic.

Actors:

Mary Dimino

Meredith Vieira

Brian Wansink

America Bracho

Rosie Dehli

Directors: Andrew Fredericks

Writers: Mary Dimino, Tom Spain

Producers: Deidre Sheehan, Felice Firestone, Jessica Bari, Linda Spain, Naomi S. Boak

Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: Spanish, English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: PBS

DVD Release Date: May 15, 2007

Run Time: 120 minutes