An Open Letter to David Wong
**This letter is in response to David Wong’s article, “Fat is Officially Incurable (According to Science)” on the website Cracked.com.**
Dear David,
Let me begin by saying I am a big fan of Cracked.com. Your web site is full of terrific articles about history and pop culture that are not only entertaining, but educational too. That’s why I was browsing it yesterday, and that’s why I clicked on your article, ““Fat is Officially Incurable (According to Science).”
I have to say, your article is the most depressing thing I have ever read. And it got me really angry. I’m a new mom who was inspired to get healthy when my son was born, and the process has been insanely difficult (and SLOW), but I am making progress. And your cynicism, even when masked in scientific data, is of absolutely no help to me.
As a matter of fact, cynicism doesn’t help anyone. It accomplishes nothing. It never creates – it only destroys. And unfortunately, cynicism is a virus that has infected a large percentage of our generation, the millennials. Dr. Jean M. Twenge writes in her book Generation Me that our generation is overwhelmingly passive, which is our reaction to our parents who, with good intentions, told us that we can be whatever we want to be – and set us up with higher expectations than they had for a world with less opportunities.
And so when we are faced with very difficult circumstances, such as high unemployment and massive student loan debt, we aren’t equipped with the tools we need to face it. The tools our grandparents had.
Optimism and Patience.
Our grandparents had it really hard. They went through massive unemployment too, and a banking crisis. But they had patience, they worked extremely hard, and above all, they truly believed that they could achieve happiness.
Your statistics are probably right. It may be near impossible for me to get healthy and stay healthy for the rest of my life. But it’s not completely impossible, and crazier things have happened. Your own website has three articles that I found in five minutes about the improbable being possible (here, here, and here.)
I will get healthy, and I will stay healthy for the rest of my life. I don’t care how long it takes, and I don’t care what the statistics say. And even if I lose only 5% of my body weight, I will be healthier than I would have been otherwise.
And I’ll still read Cracked.com, because it’s awesome.
Best,
Rebecca
there are some very interesting discussions going on in the comments over there. Such as how difficult it is for thin people to get fat, The differences between obesity and healthiness. And the debate over whether the article is saying “stop hating on obese people it’s not their fault” or saying “abandon all hope”.
The real flaw with the author is making it a quick slant instead of a full article with real depth.
That’s a good point!!
Good post! I think part of the problem with the “you can do anything you want” is that parents didn’t enforce the “hard work” that went along with it and that the government doesn’t owe you anything. It is the “you owe me without me giving you anything” generation. Best wishes with the weight lose. I think it is possible with patience and effort.
Thanks Caren!!
Great post! I believe it is possible to lose weight, doing the right things long enough and staying joyful while at it. I am glad you chose not to let the article discourage you and I pray you will one day have your results to prove it.
Thanks Ugochi! I agree completely!