Silent Bob speaks… about weight-loss

30th October 2008

Silent Bob speaks… about weight-loss

posted in Body Image, Diets, Eating Disorders, Pop Culture |

First thought at seeing Seth Rogen step out on the stage of the Jimmy Kimmel show last night: “Wow, he’s lost a lot of weight.” The “Zack and Miri” star shared no special miracle diet or magic cleanse cure-all – he said he lost weight the “boring” way by eating healthier and exercising. After reading this Los Angeles Times article, I wonder what toll Rogen’s weight-loss is having on the film’s director, Kevin Smith.

The husband and I are huge Kevin Smith fans; we’ve watched all his films and the two “An Evening with Kevin Smith” DVDs in which Silent Bob speaks his truth, no reservations, no political correctness and with plenty of raunchy profanity. Some of the Smith’s biggest laughs come at his own expense. The New Jersey native speaks matter-of-factly about his weight with the same sense of unflinching honesty and salty humor he reserves for topics like fatherhood and movie-making. “Any place that requires layers is music to a fat man’s ears,” Smith says in one take, praising the ever-dropping temperatures in one Canadian city. The self-described “fat ass” shares how he compensated for his excess weight with attitude and hard work, extols the value of a fat lover and throughout, repeatedly reminds his fans he’s a fat slob from New Jersey and isn’t ashamed.

Smith’s is a “steal the thunder” kind of humor, a self-defense ‘riff in which he puts himself down about his weight, leaving nothing for others to slam him with – not unlike the geek who points out his own flaws first to make people laugh before the school bully can use them as an excuse to hurl him into a locker. Case in point: on the Tonight Show last week, Smith shared how his wide girth caused him to break a toilet in the men’s room of a comic book store. The store manager, a friend of Smith’s, promised he’d never tell of the embarrassing incident. Nonetheless, Smith chose to share it first and on his own terms with national audiences. Smith’s humor can’t hide the fact that he is ashamed about his weight, and as his writings suggest, deeply so.

The rest of this post contains some pretty harsh body image talk, so don’t read if this is triggering to you.

The Los Angeles Times article linked to above reports that Smith plans to count more than ratings after the Oct. 31 “Zack and Miri” release:

Since his doctor called him morbidly obese, he’s giving up the all-you-can-eat lifestyle and taking a “health sabbatical” intended to shed extra pounds he packed on while filming the raunchy, Seth Rogen-starring romantic comedy in Pittsburgh last year.

“I’m going away for a while,” Smith said, puffing a menthol cigarette on the patio of his Hollywood Hills home, “to concentrate on myself. To save my life.”

…The director has been complaining about being fat in radio interviews and fretting about it on his blog much to the chagrin of Weinstein Co. publicists for the film, who have openly wished the director would “talk about something else.”

Despite our Kevin Smith fandom, I’ve never read his blog so I looked it up. The (anything but) “My Boring Ass Life” blog is largely self-promotional, offering links to film reviews and interviews with Smith and the cast, while also revealing glimpses of the man behind the camera. In response to a cover of Complex Magazine, featuring him and Rogen, Smith writes:

Fuck, I wish I was still that thin. I’ve porked the fuck out, man. I’m really, really fat right now. Fattest I’ve ever been. But as soon as this flick’s out, I’m taking my life back; gonna drop out of sight and drop a bunch of pounds. It’s the deal I’ve made with myself. Just gotta make it through the next two and half weeks of press and running around.

This isn’t the first time Silent Bob’s gone on a diet. A look through his blog archives reveals some dieting successes last year, accompanied by links to the ever-constant media attention given to the weights of public figures and celebrities. Women often receive the lion’s share of uninvited and negative body image scrutiny from the media, but Smith reminds us that no one is immune from size discrimination. In response to reviews of “Catch & Release,” in which Smith stars but did not write or direct, he writes:

Jack Mathews in the NY Daily News (not exactly Mr. Svelte himself) wrote “Smith, who makes movies (”Clerks”) that he occasionally appears in, plays the vulgar, kindhearted Sam as if he were emulating John Belushi’s Bluto in “Animal House.” The guy is either stuffing his face, slugging back beers or preparing to do one or other in almost every scene. At least Smith gives the film a few moments of authenticity. His girth certainly matches his character’s appetite.”

At least Jack was subtle about the dig. Check out the bile Kyle Smith was belching in the NY Post…

“One of Gray’s friends is played by Kevin Smith – the “Clerks” director and Silent Bob creator who this time speaks. What he ought to say is “Get Jenny Craig on the phone.” If this movie weren’t being shown in widescreen, you couldn’t even see all of him as he thunders through the house in a striped bathrobe the size of a parachute.”

I mean, how is that relevant? And I’m not even personally offended here: I’ve been the recipient of much more creative weight barbs by far more imaginative slingers (this is, after all, Kyle Smith – the second stringer who only gets to review the flicks Lou Lumenick doesn’t want to). But if you’re a film critic, aren’t you supposed to review the performances in the film – not just the appearance of the performer? How is the size of my bathrobe even germane to the discussion?

Quick answer: It’s not.

For sure, Smith’s writings suggest that he does harbor emotional overeating tendencies or other dysfunctional relationships with food. As he tells the LA Times:

“The results of this movie [Zack and Miri] will be interesting. Come opening weekend, if it does well, I’ll want to reward myself by eating more. And if the movie does poorly, I imagine I’ll want to self-medicate and eat more. Hollywood’s a hard town to be fat in!”

And on his blog last year:

I’m a fairly smart cookie. I’ve proven myself smart enough to build a career out of almost nothing, with no connections and limited skills. I’ve proven myself smart enough to woo and wed a woman way out of my league. I’ve even proven myself smart enough to turn hobbies into revenue streams – selling all my blogs (that I wrote for free, mind you) to Titan Books in the UK for publication as one giant compendium (due later this year). But when it comes to food and self-control in the arena of eating? I’m totally retarded.

Those who would justify discrimination of fat people do so by arguing the flawed logic that if fat people learn to accept and love themselves, they’d never have any motivation to change (i.e. lose weight). Examples: In response to a Wall Street Journal about the growing plus-size clothing industry, Islamophobe “journalist” and blogger Debbie Schlussel rudely insisted, “There shouldn’t be ANY “chic choices” for fat chicks. It isn’t hip or chic or cool to be fat. So why are we encouraging it?” When Torrid arrived on the fashion scene a few years back with its extra-large camisoles and saucy plus-size tees, even public health experts accused the chain of promoting some kind of conspiratorial teen obesity agenda.

If encouraging shame and self-loathing ever worked to promote weight-loss, we’d be a nation of thin people by now. Some people, especially those with disordered relationships with food, are at higher weights than is healthy for them precisely because of body hatred. I don’t often discuss my own weight-loss here, but it wasn’t until I began to repair my tattered self-esteem and learned to appreciate myself and my body that I was finally able to maintain a significant weight-loss. I didn’t come to weigh 300-pounds because I loved myself; rather, my weight stood as a flesh-and-bone testament to my conflicted and tortured internal self. Now that I enjoy a relatively healthy self-esteem and body image, I nourish my body by feeding my body healthy foods it craves and needs and being physically active in activities I enjoy. It is not dissimilar to my eating disorder: When I was actively anorexic, I starved my body for days and abused it with emetines, ephedra and over-exercise. When I entered into eating disorder recovery, I gained weight as the result of making healthier choices.

My point here as it relates to Kevin Smith is that sustained weight-loss is most achievable when you begin thinking of your body positively as an ally and not a foreign entity to be conquered, whittled and tamed into submission. Self-respect rarely flows from the wellspring of self-hatred. I don’t presume to know the inner mind of Kevin Smith, but his writings and even his comedy reveal a sense of sadness about himself, a darkness that try as the funny man might, can’t be lifted. Here’s hoping that Smith realizes and internalizes the same sense of respect and appreciation for his body that his legions of fans already hold of him, and becomes healthier in both mind and body. It’d be a shame for his creative talents and his life to be wasted on a treadmill to nowhere.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 2:51 pm and is filed under Body Image, Diets, Eating Disorders, Pop Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On October 30th, 2008, MrsDrC said:

I’m a huge KS fan too. It really saddens me to hear him hating his own body.

Weight loss as a goal always equals failure. Health as a goal, including mental health is much more attainable. I hope Kevin can find his way to HAES.

posted on October 30th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

2 On October 30th, 2008, Rachel said:

Weight loss as a goal always equals failure.

I don’t think it’s as stark as this. I think that people who rely on commercial diets to lose weight are more apt to “fail,” but I also believe that sustained weight-loss is entirely possible for some people, so long as its achieved by making healthy lifestyle changes. But yes, I agree that it is far better to focus on a holistic idea of health than on weight itself — weight is just one component in a larger health equation.

posted on October 30th, 2008 at 3:27 pm

3 On October 30th, 2008, thordora said:

This was a great piece. I hope he’s doing it for HIM. I threw a hissy fit the other day about all the people in my office “dieting”…they don’t seem sad, just oddly compelled….

posted on October 30th, 2008 at 3:37 pm

4 On October 30th, 2008, Lisa said:

This is really sad. I hope he’s able to use his time off to take stock and figure out what’s REALLY going to make him happy – I get the feeling there’s a lot more going on here than weight issues.

posted on October 30th, 2008 at 3:54 pm

5 On October 30th, 2008, Linda said:

I love his heft. Just my kind of guy, really. So sad that he hasn’t been able to find peace with it.

It’s also sad that he has a daughter who has inherited his body type, whereas his wife is quite thin. What is his attitude going to do to his daughter?

posted on October 30th, 2008 at 4:21 pm

6 On October 30th, 2008, Cindy said:

His success hasn’t made him totally happy. Which means being thin will, right?

And did Rogan lose weight for a superhero movie he’s doing?

posted on October 30th, 2008 at 4:23 pm

7 On October 30th, 2008, Sherie S said:

Sad! Actually I am just trying to see if I can post under another entry because it refuses to let me post under the calorie labeling entry.

posted on October 30th, 2008 at 9:51 pm

8 On October 31st, 2008, Becky said:

In a book that I just recently read…. “Structure House”
by Gerard Musante, it was pointed out that most of the time the reason why people fail at weight loss is because they eat to satisfy their emotions (loneliness, depression, feelings of inadequacy), so I agree with Lisa, I think there are some emotional things that may be impacting him.

posted on October 31st, 2008 at 12:06 am

9 On October 31st, 2008, Miranda said:

Rogan has been talking about losing weight for The Green Hornet since he was cast. He said he wanted to look like he could almost be a superhero. I saw both shows and was shocked at how Rogan looked on Kimmel, but was relieved when he spoke about his trainer and egg whites, esp. the erotic nature of pizza. But Smith is another story. I’ve always harboured a little crush on him and found it really sad that he didn’t feel good enough about himself the way he was. I hope he finds this piece and reads it.

posted on October 31st, 2008 at 9:24 am

10 On October 31st, 2008, I am not the enemy « Exceptionally Fat said:

[...] I was reading Rachel’s great post on director Kevin Smith’s relationship with his body and his weight and I had a great big *click* moment when I read [...]

posted on October 31st, 2008 at 11:43 am

11 On October 31st, 2008, Linds said:

I am constantly surrounded by people who hate their bodies and are obsessed with their weight. As someone who is trying to change those attitudes in myself, it can seem like a constant barrage. Thanks for creating a space for people like me to read affirming messages and posts questioning the size obsession.

posted on October 31st, 2008 at 1:57 pm

12 On October 31st, 2008, Charlotte said:

I’m a Kevin Smith fan, and it pains me to see him hating on himself so much.

posted on October 31st, 2008 at 2:26 pm

13 On November 1st, 2008, Jackie said:

I feel the presumption that people are fat or overeat because of emotional issues, is just as presumptive as people presuming one is fat because they overeat. My mom had a neighbor of ours ask her if there was abuse going on in our house because my sister and I are fat, I’m glad I wasn’t there because I would’ve flipped out at her, which most likely would’ve confirmed her unwelcome assumptions.

It’s dangerous to label an entire group as holding a negative trait. Of course there’s the assumption that fat people simply can’t be happy, and must eat more to cope with their sadness. Now there’s the idea that if your fat you must have been abused? Do you know how damaging it is to get that wrong? To suggest someone must be being abused, and have them taken away from a loving home? How would that person getting into something that’s none of their beeswax feel then?

Oh wait, I forgot though, allowing your child to live fat IS a form of abuse. (sarcasm)

One of the biggest reasons people fail at weight loss, is that the body knows it’s wrong to starve itself. I really am surprised you suggested, on a fat acceptance blog, that someone must have emotional problems and that’s why they “fail” at weight loss Becky. Perhaps you didn’t realize where you were, but those of us involved in fat acceptance don’t see not doing well on a starvat..diet as failing. I’m sorry I got of on a tirade about people being presumed abused cause they’re fat, but really it ties into your statement. Nobody is helped when people are treated as they’re the same, instead of individuals.

I mean I find having to defend yourself against someones ignorant assumption that you’re being abused simply because you’re fat somewhat emotionally abusive. I can’t believe someone really thinks you just go up out of the blue, and ask that. Maybe my neighbor needs to lay off the Lifetime movies.

posted on November 1st, 2008 at 6:04 pm

14 On November 1st, 2008, Rachel said:

I really am surprised you suggested, on a fat acceptance blog, that someone must have emotional problems and that’s why they “fail” at weight loss Becky.

First, to clarify, this isn’t a “fat acceptance” blog. It’s a site dedicated to helping people learn to manage and overcome disordered relationships with food. The fact that Becky suggested emotional eating as a reason why some people fail at weight loss isn’t all that surprising, considering the site’s larger mission. I think you’re being overly-defensive here. No one here is suggesting that ALL fat people are fat because of emotional eating issues nor is anyone suggesting that being fat or having a fat child is an indication of abuse.

There are many fat and healthy people with equally healthy relationships with food and body image and there are many less secure people who are at higher weights than is healthy for them because of disordered relationships with food and/or eating disorders. If you would not object to an anorexic gaining weight as part of eating disorder recovery, then you should not object when people with other forms of eating disorders that contribute to a higher-than-healthy-weight-for-them feel weight loss is in their best health interests.

Commercial dieting programs are rarely sustainable, but I am living proof that sustainable weight-loss is entirely possible without starvation.

posted on November 1st, 2008 at 9:30 pm

15 On November 3rd, 2008, wriggles said:

It’s funny that you are telling Jackie off rachel, because your own experience, from what I can gather confirms the gist of what she is saying.

If emotions cause diet failure, then happy well-balanced fat people would not exist, as even you claim they do, they’d either not be fat, or they’d succeed at long term weight loss. Indeed, you cite your own experience as proof that body hatred is incompatible with maintenance of long term weight loss. But as I get it, you said that you were unhappy fat;300lbs and unhappy thin;anorexic.
You are now happy and I think still rather plump if not outright fat, so are you still practising emotional eating?
Don’t answer that if it’s too personal.

My own view for what it’s worth is that emotions are ever present in all of us at all weights therefore they must be part of the body’s calculation of our daily energy needs; we all know how physically draining times of high emotion can be, even say a little bad news can make a difference compared to a day when we receive good news.

We all suffer and suffer equally with a broad range of coping skills that are not particular or peculiar to any weight category. The difference between fat and thin (and plump) is that a fat person’s body has more of a propensity- think of it as genetic interplay if you want- to react to those emotions by gainning weight.

IOW, weight regulation remains relatively uneffected in some more than others.

It is true that the health effects of weight gain as with weight loss, vary greatly, but that is neither here nor there, the exact same problems come up in trying to achieve and maintain weight loss, whether you hate yourself or don’t, whether you eat ‘emotionally’ or eat unemotionally.

posted on November 3rd, 2008 at 8:34 am

16 On November 3rd, 2008, Rachel said:

Indeed, you cite your own experience as proof that body hatred is incompatible with maintenance of long term weight loss.

I’m not telling anyone “off” here, Wriggles. Merely clarifying the site mission. As the site owner and author, I think I have a right to do so. You’ve been very unclear in your comments on other sites (Attrice, Babble, FABS) and to be frank, you’re equally confusing here. You also seem to completely miss or distort comments. See above. Is English your native language? This isn’t to be rude, but rather to better understand where you’re coming from.

To say sustainable weight loss is possible is not to say that a person will sustain a thin weight. I’ve consistently maintained throughout nearly two years of blogging now that for most people, a healthy diet and relationship with food and regular physical fitness will allow their body to settle into a sustainable weight that is healthy for them. Whether that weight be fat or thin is relative to the individual.

It’s true that fat people have a greater propensity for weight gain, but I also have a greater propensity for diabetes and heart disease because it runs in my family. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m not going to try and prevent either condition through healthy living and/or medication. You don’t quite seem to get that this propensity is relatively moot in people with binge eating disorder, bulimia or emotional or compulsive overeating nor do you quite seem to get how these conditions constitute psychiatric eating disorders and are therefore vastly different than in the person who emotionally overeats on a “bad day.” For people with these conditions, every day is a “bad day.”

If someone developed cancer, would you object to them undergoing chemotherapy to treat it? Binging types of eating disorders often contribute to a higher-than-healthy-weights for the people who suffer from them. For these people, weight-loss is but symptomatic of their medical disorder and comprises one part of a holistic recovery plan to make healthier both mind and body. You do not have the right to make medical decisions for them or to question the informed decisions they make for themselves.

posted on November 3rd, 2008 at 10:02 am

17 On November 3rd, 2008, wriggles said:

I think you’re being overly-defensive here.

This is a telling off.

As the site owner and author, I think I have a right to do so.

Who’s being overly defensive?

You’ve been very unclear in your comments on other sites (Attrice, Babble, FABS) and to be frank, you’re equally confusing here.

You can’t understand what I’m saying and yet you somehow figured out:

You also seem to completely miss or distort comments

Wow, even when you cannot understand what someone is saying, you can still understand what they are saying, extraordinary.

Is English your native language?

Yes, but you cannot understand/can understand what I write, is it yours?

I get the message, you don’t want to hear what I have to say, none of you do.

I want you to know, that I’m crying into my dictionary.

posted on November 3rd, 2008 at 2:59 pm

18 On November 3rd, 2008, Rachel said:

It’s clear where we both stand, Wriggles. It’s also clear that perhaps this isn’t the site or community for you.

posted on November 3rd, 2008 at 3:46 pm

19 On November 4th, 2008, Posts from around the fatosphere » Manolo for the Big Girl! said:

[...] The F-Word: A prayer for Kevin Smith. [...]

posted on November 4th, 2008 at 9:01 am

20 On November 5th, 2008, chachaheels said:

If any diet ever worked, everyone would be thin, no one would be fat. But then, if that could happen, you wouldn’t have multi-billion dollar corporations like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig making fortunes off this fact by making you feel like your “excess” weight is your fault, your fault, your fault!

The easiest thing in the world to do is starve yourself if you’re told you have a “weight problem”, given the extent of hatred pointed at “fat” as a concept, and the way that hatred is justified by people to whom we erroneously give authority–doctors and supposed “scientists” and “nutritionists” who go on about how dangerous it is to be “fat” (and the definition of that word is arbitrary). The attention and flattery and reward you’re given when you’re doing that whole starvation dance is remarkable, too; addictive, as it encourages more self-deprivation. Trouble is, starvation just isn’t healthy and it never works and human bodies have a way of making you understand exactly that, in an indisputable way.

It’s too bad we are never short of examples of the way the even the most creative, contributing, loving and successful people are effectively and completely reduced to nothing by the word “fatso”, in whatever form of public shaming it may take. Who cares what they accomplish? Who gives a damn what they’ve made of themselves, when you can feel superior by dismissing such a person as a fatty (and you know everyone around you will join in, too).

posted on November 5th, 2008 at 6:37 am

21 On December 15th, 2008, Reader Challenge: Thank your body » The-F-Word.org said:

[...] kind of echoes the point I tried to make in my post about director Kevin Smith: When you treat your body as an ally and not a foreign entity to be [...]

posted on December 15th, 2008 at 12:03 pm