But what if the three photos actually were of three different people? What would each be like?
The guy in the center looks like a Bubba, a friendly, somewhat slobbish type who'll wrap his arm around you in a friendly gesture (he won't feel awkward about it, but you will). He likes to drink beer and watch football. He actually played football his freshman year, but decided not to go out his sophomore year because he didn't like having to do the wind sprints. He's relaxed, outgoing, and would probably like both the fellow in the left and the one on the right.
The guy on the left looks like the type who'd run for Class President. He's a future businessman, an aggressive go-getter who'll give you a hearty handshake and an insincere smile. He likes to brag about his conquests to his buddies. He has nothing but contempt for the "lardass" and "faggot" (his words) in the other pictures.
The guy on the right is a bit of a fashionista (who else would wear a scarf and semi-matching hat indoors?) He despises the guy on the left, but doesn't say anything because he's afraid of him. He likes the fellow in the center, who seems to accept him for who he is, and has even encouraged him to try to lose weight so he can wear more stylish clothes.
Okay, I've just indulged in a lot of obvious cliches. And I'm obviously not suggesting that there's any truth to these stereotypes, at least as far as Austin is concerned. But I don't think I'd be alone in imputing those personality types to each physique.
What's amazing, of course, is that he looks as if he has a different personality in each picture, even though it can't possibly be true.
But it would be interesting to find out if Austin Shifflett's personality has actually changed at all since his physical transformation. You occasionally hear about the "pretty girl personality" (expects the world on a silver platter, thinks she's more interesting than she is). You never hear of the "handsome boy personality." But it's probably just as real.
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13 comments:
LOL. I enjoy your humorous interpretations.
Since learning about Austin on your blog I looked him up on the webz, there are pictures of him that look even more massive than the ones you've chosen here. He was morbidly obese. And at such a young age. Glad he took drastic action. BTW, on one site he said he did have loose skin.
I think the pic on the left could be interpreted as a nice young kid who doesn't know how to dress, so he dresses like everyone else, or like a middle-aged lesbian.
I totally agree that the guy on the right is a different person entirely. If I didn't know that this was the same person, I wouldn't believe (belieb?) it. I would believe that the middle and left pics are of the same person.
Let's remember: he's a kid. A kid who has been through an ordeal. It's not easy being that fat, and on one of the pages his gramma said that his childhood had been "not easy." Good luck to him.
Lady Bug --
Good point. I wish Austin luck too. And he deserves a lot of credit for having had the discipline to have lost all that weight. The entire point of these last two posts was to marvel at the change in a person's face after a drastic weight loss (or gain).
Yes, I was a little harsh in my "interpretation" of the lefthand guy's personality, but that was only to provide a contrast to the other two. He actually looked more wholesome than I was giving him credit for.
Shame on you of knowing that word ("belieb") and on me for recognizing it.
Belieb it or not, I keep up with all the trends.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
I think nowadays we are almost conditioned to be cynical, and not to trust "wholesome." I'm in a rush now but there is a very old Jeff Bridges movie, he was 20 or so when he made it, about a white kid in a black high school. It was amazingly honest. At the end he freaks out at the school principal saying something like, "In a sane world you would appreciate me, in this fucked up school you put me down," or something like that. I can't develop this now, I gotta go - but I hope you get my point. Up to about 1975 wholesome was accepted. Now it's all upside down. Trump won't change this.
If this makes no sense, say so.
The Jeff Bridge movie is worth a look.
Also, I just wanted to say that refined carbs really are the spawn of the devil, and should indeed be avoided for weight loss. I part company w/the low carb crowd in that I don't think that carbs per se are the problem - it's those damn refined carbs that you can just stuff down without any satisfaction. That totally includes bread - even whole wheat bread.
Gotta go, later.
Lady Bug --
Agree about refined carbs. (They do taste good though.)
Wholesome is generally good, especially in young people, but when it's accompanied by terminal naiveté at a later stage of life, it's less appealing.
Lady Bug mentioned that the Austin looks like Justin Bieber. I agree. Teenagers, will sometimes try out different "looks" on themselves. Maybe, that's what Austin is doing. Hopefully, he finds the correct look over time (he has plenty of time to find himself), one that fits his actual personality.
-birdie
What I like is that Austin took action, turning a negative into a positive (for himself). He lost a lot of weight, started living a healthier lifestyle, and now wants to help others in the future. Austin is studying to become a personal trainer. I wish him well.
-birdie
Birdie --
That's a great goal for him, and he is an inspirational example himself.
@birdie,
A speedy recovery to your son.
I think John or someone else mentioned the resemblance to Bieber first, although I noticed it before they said so.
@John,
I must have sounded like a nut.
The Jeff Bridges movie is called "Halls of Anger." I mentioned it because in it, he played a wholesome cleancut kid, right around the time the cultural revolution began - 1970. Before that, wholesome was not considered something to be suspicious of.
You can learn a lot from period pieces.
Austin is awesome. Haha, I couldn't resist. He's made me into a belieber!
Lady Bug --
OK, I'll keep the Bridges movie in mind.
The cultural revolution really started in the early 60's, though it didn't become mainstream until '66 or '67. (I'm a little older than you, so I remember those times quite clearly.)
Right, about cultural revolution but in the early 60s, it strikes me that the "beatniks" were actually pretty wholesome. Maybe not Allan Ginsberg (a real perv) but guys like Peter Paul & Mary...look at pictures of them. So proper with their suits & ties. And Mary - she shocked people by not teasing her hair but otherwise was such a lady. Look at pictures of Papa John Phillips - in the late 50s & early 60s he was a folkie. He wore a suit and tie! The hippie/yippie revolution overturned all that, that is what I am talking about. This movie zeroes in on that revolution of values plus is so honest about race it is noteworthy. Quentin Tarantino should be forced to look at this movie for 6 days straight then forced to live in Ferguson 4ever.
Two other things. I thought this was interesting & relevant:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/31/the-surprising-thing-ancient-mummies-tell-us-about-what-to-eat/?tid=pm_business_pop_b
Well maybe they had heart disease but at least they didn't get fat...(I've read that baboons get heart disease so I think this is just a primate thing, having to do with stress, which cannot be escaped.)
My last word on weight is that at least for me, diet is the key, not exercise. Unless we are talking about *massive* amounts of exercise (quantity = quality) I cannot exercise myself out of a bad diet and even then, you just can't, if you are binging, and you are a normal size woman. You might be able to lose weight eating 'normally' and exercising but not if you are stuffing yer face.
Another ballet example. There was a dancer w/the NYC ballet who managed to gain 35 pounds in her first year in the company. She wrote a book about it, where she divulged that as she was gaining the weight, she exercised at a gym after hours in a frantic attempt to lose the weight. I cannot imagine - she was a working ballerina AND a gym rat?? Her life became a desperate round of binging, dancing, and exercising. Thankfully, they fired her. She got her head straight, lost the weight, and rejoined the company and became a principal. She doesn't say in the book exactly how she lost the weight but I think it's obvious - she stopped binging. To answer the question the commenter put in the previous post, yes, that is how you gain weight - consistent "force feeding." Why people do this, who knows, but that's the bottom line - you gain weight in a short amount of time by consistent overcaloric consumption.
(The 5 pounds a year weight gain is also true - and very insidious.)
2nd thing - a racial shooting that is being covered up by the media. But I won't talk about it here unless you want me to, it's your blog and it's OT. Please advise.
Lady Bug --
Yes, Ginsberg was a member of NAMBLA, though he mostly had relationships with other men…..I completely agree, Quentin Tarantino, given the movies he makes and his feelings about cops, should be sentenced to live in Ferguson, or some similar place. He'll get to find out firsthand what the characters he glorifies are really like. And who he'll turn to for help when the situation gets dire.
Interesting article about the mummies. I think it's also a lot harder to get fat when you can't store food. What you kill or forage, you have to eat soon, otherwise it goes bad. And if you have killed or foraged anything in the past couple days, you don't eat. That should be the new diet craze: the kill-or-starve diet.
And yes, binge eating is terrible.
Sure, if you want to bring up a shooting or other current event, please feel free. I may not respond at length, but please feel free.
I was feeling your description of the centre guy and I buy your description of the right guy but the left guy just looks to me like he's sporty, one of the popular kids, and maybe a bit full of himself but not necessarily an arsehole, maybe even a nice kid. I don't get the meanness or the ambition from the picture. & in my experience, everyone likes the funny confident fat kid.
Steven --
I won't disagree with you at all, and I admit that I was giving the guy on the left that personality just to provide a contrast to (and bit of tension with) the other two.
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