I’m just really tired of being warned about “disordered eating” because I’m a normal, healthy weight and keep track of my own eating. I use a food scale to portion things. I’ve been told that’s disordered. I log using MyFitnessPal to keep an eye on my overall intake and macros. I’ve been told that’s disordered. …

To be fair, healthy and athletic aren’t synonymous. Some would argue being overweight - or carrying excess body fat - is detrimental to health regardless of activity levels or athleticism.

Agreed, and you’re right, on an individual level. But as a society, we have consequences when our people aren’t healthy. Someone doing heroin doesn’t affect me personally but a community who has a heroin problem sees the aggregate effects from that. This is why I also think that it’s not about judging or addressing…

“Disordered eating” is what has led to two thirds of American adults being overweight or obese. Chronic over-eating is disordered too.

I could be wrong, but I think there’s a difference between child actors and these kids. They were not actors before this audition.

Thank you for this perspective. I am post-menopausal and also had to take steroids during cancer treatment a couple of years ago. Either or both have caused damage to my metabolism; I seem to gain weight relentlessly.  I exercise every day, don’t eat fast or fried food, and avoid carbs and sweets. Still, I gain. I…

I’m skidding into the second end of life (mid-40's), and it’s amazing how everything is just the same arguments getting repackaged over and over.

At the same time, while I will automatically swipe left if a guy has that on his profile (along with any guy with a shirtless selfie, especially if it’s in a bathroom), I won’t berate people for having preferences and being upfront about them, be it thinness or only dating college graduates or height or whatever. I…

It’s unfair to label anyone who watches what they eat and likes to maintain a certain weight and level of fitness disordered or ‘sick’ though. I mean, by that same token, anyone who is overweight and stress eats is equally disordered and sick. Some people just really care about their looks and their body and it’s very…

I can’t even begin to unravel this knot or how I feel about/fit into it. In early middle age I found myself getting fatter until I was finally obese and getting obese-er. I was in great shape, healthy as a horse, could bike and run and stuff, and I sincerely felt okay with who I was and the body I had. But I also knew…

You’re one of the best Jez commenters so maybe you can help me sort out my thoughts. I’m not thin, I love working out, I think all body shapes and sizes are beautiful, and I am well aware that you can be unhealthy at a size 0 and at a size 24. I would never fat-shame, or concern-troll a person because of their weight.…

As I read it, these weren’t “child actors” but real live orphans living in poverty. What they did was cruel and unnecessary. With adults you can say “Hey, we’ll pay you to live your sad story” but with kids, that’s just plain abusive. Children are not lab rats.

Keep in mind I work in international relations, I know a shitload of people who work in development and with refugees, know a ton of human rights defenders, etc. I’m cynical because I’ve had years of practice in discerning between the real ones (who are human and have their own flaws, no one is talking sainthood…

On another note, Jolie hasn’t explained why former members of the Khmer Rouge were allowed to work on this film.

As my wife told me about her “sane people don’t ruin other peoples’ marriages”.

And you don’t understand that meaningful, even good, impact is often driven by bullshit. America is built on it.

I’m sorry you can’t tell the difference between bullshit publicity and meaningful impact. Hers is most certainly the former.

That actress was Irene Cara. She was 20 when Fame was filmed, and she was an established actress when the movie was made, having worked on Broadway and in TV, including Jim Jones: The Guyana Story.

I haven’t watched the video yet, but the reality is that there is a need for orphanages — we even have them in the US, we just call them “group homes.” However, there are many policy steps that can be taken to better support families staying together — poverty abatement, access to health care etc. For kids who do go…

And that is why her PR team is the best in the business. She also complains about the press yet somehow keeps getting on the front page of those mags all the time on being pregnant. That is a mutually beneficial and cultivated relationship.