It’s All About Caring, Fatsos
April 16th, 2024 Barry Posted in Fat Acceptance | No Comments »
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has four panels. All four panels focus on the same character, a cheerful young man standing in a what looks like a home office. There’s a desk, a lamp, an armchair with an ottoman, and a photo hanging on the wall in an oval frame. A cat is relaxing on the ottoman.
The main character has blonde-orange hair that’s neatly combed and kind of puffy. He’s wearing glasses, a red t-shirt with a big exclamation point on it (which is sort of what I defer to when I have no idea what to draw on a character’s t-shirt), blue jeans, and red sneakers.
PANEL ONE
The man is standing and talking directly to the readers. He’s waving at us.
MAN: I saw this fat woman on YouTube. I left a comment and said “maybe you should try jogging… away from the donuts!” Ha ha!
PANEL TWO
The man, still grinning, is holding up a finger in a “wait, wait, there’s more!” gesture.
MAN: Then I commented “obesity is linked to conditions like diabetes… and virginity!” Haw haw!
PANEL THREE
In a close-up panel, he raises his hands, palms out, as he continues to grin and talk.
MAN: Then I said “You’re going to die of a heart attack by the time you’re 35.” Hah!
PANEL FOUR
The man, no longer grinning, is clasping his hands together as he tries to look very kind and sympathetic.
MAN: Of course, I said those things because I care so much about fat people’s health.
CHICKEN FAT WATCH
“Chicken fat” is an old cartoonists’ expression for unimportant but hopefully amusing details cartoonists slip in.
We can’t see the background in panel 3 because it’s a close-up. But in the other panels, we can see a framed photo on the wall in the background. In panel one, the photo shows Fred Flintstone; in panel two, Freddy Kruger; and in panel four, Freddy Mercury.
There’s also a cat relaxing on the ottoman. In panel one, the cat is just napping. In panel two, the cat is reading a book; the book has the title “The Cat Who Read A Book.” The author name is in print that’s probably too tiny to be read and says “Tiny Print, M.D.” And in panel four, the cat is sitting up like a human, one leg crossed over the other, and smoking a cigarette.
