Not fit for visual consumption

“The world
makes you into
a bitch,
no matter how quietly you go,
so you may as well go
kicking and screaming.”
- Roseanne

"The Common Woman is roaring and
the force of her roar
cannot be contained.
She will expose the truth
of the masters of war,
and
bring them down."
- Roseanne

"Women, don't think that
Palin's winking at your man
makes her one of you.
That's what being
a beauty queen
is all about."
- Roseanne

I've been watching stand up comedy for a looooonngg time.
When I was morbidly obese, depressed and sedentary
(as opposed to now when I'm just plain obese,
depressed but highly functioning,
and sorta active)
I didn't accept many invitations to go out at night.
I stayed home.
I watched (and still do watch) lots of TV,
mainly Comedy Central and adultswim.

What do I watch when I'm lookig for some
enlightening political commentary?
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

Socio-cultural observations?
stand ups who are the philosophers of our day

Social satire?
South Park

Pop culture satire?
Family Guy and Robot Chicken

You get the picture.

I like big important issues but I need to laugh to make that medicine go down.

My life was made more bearable by watching comedians.
Roseanne was one of them.

I loved Roseanne since her stand up days.
I'll never forget how she called herself a Domestic Goddess because she didn't like the term 'housewife'.

When she first got her sitcom, I was already a fan.
The show was great from day one.
There was something real about it.
Funny and a bit sad at the same time.
I loved it right up until the last season, even when it got 'weird'.
I sobbed during the series finale.

Roseanne was one of the first 'fat' women I'd ever seen on TV who wasn't the butt of cruel fat jokes.
She was the star.
The alpha.
The big Baddy.
The matriarch.

Hey, I grew up watching Laugh In, Flip Wilson, Carol Burnett and The Sonny and Cher show.
I remember fat women being easy targets just because they were fat.

I remember Mama Cass and how she deadpanned to the camera a la Jack Benny whenever they dropped a fat bomb on her.

I also remember thinking that Mama Cass was not that fat.
I wondered why they picked on her so much.

So, Rosey was different.
Unapologetically fat, loud and relatable.
I loved her.

And,
here's my point for today...
she didn't wait.

She didn't wait to lose weight before embarking on her career.
She didn't wait till she had plastic surgery to be seen on TV.
She was fat, flabby, looked her age and still put herself out there.

I keep watching the recent videos of myself and thinking I'm not fit for visual consumption.
I feel like I should wait to look a certain way before hitting the world with my "products" as if I need to look a certain way before I have any credibility.

I've been catching reruns of Roseanne on Nick and Oxygen.
I see how she changed over the years,
Her plastic surgery, her weight loss, her styling made her look prettier and more sophisticated as time went on.

She didn't look that way in episode one.
but
she didn't wait.

I'm looking to her for inspiration now.
I need to convince myself that I can say what I need to say
without having to look a certain way.

Why wait?

*Lisa's Video Pick of the Day*
She was blond for a while recently.
I love the way she looks in this clip.
Roseanne still has plenty to say.
I'm fat.
She's fat.
I'm listening.
click here or click below