Sometimes I meet people, and I think, “whoa, that guy/girl’s really mysterious.” But I notice that they’re always somewhat unkempt and skinny. I’m having trouble picturing a mysterious person who is obese. Is this possible in your estimation?
Just to preempt the Brando jokes, let’s say we’re talking about people you personally meet.
I can’t remember a time I thought of anyone as mysterious, but I can’t see how weight would factor into such a thought.
The factual answer to that is…
Naw, nevermind.
I’m not sure mysterious is the right word, but there have been plenty of overweight people I’ve met who were interesting and compelling.
I know that my own prejudice against fat people makes me tend to try forcing all of the fat people I know into one of two stereotypes. One is the angry-at-the-world pity seeking unhappy slob, and two is the happy and carefree guy who lives life to the fullest and is always the friendliest guy in the room. It’s startling to me when I meet a fat person with a personality that deviates from these.
I kind of get what the OP is laying down. It’s a bit like leading ladies – sometimes it seems the more tragic they are, the skinnier they must be. As if their fragility must always be expressed in skin and bone form.
While I don’t really know any obese people, I’ve met a few ‘larger’ people with stage personas and secret pasts. Women musicians, an opera singer, some burlesque dancers.
Brian Wilson?
Yes.
:leaves a single black Rose:
Kasper Gutman is indeed, mysterious, and is the archetypical “Fat Man”.
I am now picturing you as unkempt and skinny.
Pretty much exactly spot on, except for the last two things you mentioned.
I’m sure Glamour Shots has a filter for that.
ZING! I admit, I laughed. What IS it about Glamour Shots attracting the larger ladies?
Sure. There’s a large man I see around town often, he dresses interestingly, and I’m sure I would probably like him if I knew him. I always wonder about his bio, and am sure we know bunches of people in common due to the frequency with which we are in the same place (read: bar). I don’t talk to him because I have horrible people skills and there’s almost always really loud music, so I would have to shout an awkward conversation at him.
I suppose so, but I’ve never met one. Certainly movies and TV supply very few examples… Nero Wolfe and Mycroft Holmes are two, I guess.
I laughed, too. I think it’s because it’s a chance to feel pretty and like a model, even if you’re paying for it. They really wouldn’t get the chance to have a photoshoot in real life, compared to someone thin*.
I had glamour shots done once. I was hugely pregnant at the time. . .
Alfred Hitchcock. I win.
Why wouldn’t an obese person be able to be mysterious? Would you question whether or not thin people can be jolly? People of all colors, shapes, and sizes run the personality gamut and weight doesn’t really factor into that kind of thing IME.
I have a heavy female friend who is a professional actress and also used to do phone sex. She is pretty much a character and can be very mysterious and theatrical. So yeah, I think big people can be mysterious.
You don’t think Orson Welles could be mysterious?
Not even with all the magic tricks, and his movie F for Fake?