"Fat" Monica in Friends isn't even fat

[TallGirl24]

As per title. Rewatching all the old Friends episodes. How in the name of the wee donkey was this a recurring joke? She's basically normal sized but beside some very slim costars. I know it was a different time but it is so jarring to watch now.

But everyone else refers to her as fat

Not in the book they don't! I can't remember if they do in the film. You're right about Martine McC in Love Actually. I'd always assumed the "joke" there was meant to be that of course she's not fat, but it's not funny.

Fat Monica is still fat, though (which doesn't make the jokes about her funny, but it's true).

Ben. Ross's son.

No. The fat Monica flashbacks show a clearly overweight person.

She wasn't tv fat. She was actually fat.

I think in love actually it is more they are making bitchy comments, knowing he likes her, rather than they think she’s fat.

Yep. Nearly 2/3 of adults in the UK are overweight or obese, we have normalised fatness.

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/update-to-the-obesity-profile-on-fingertips/obesity-profile-short-statistical-commentary-may-2024

In America at that time, Fat Monica would not have been an outlier amongst teenagers. America got fatter, faster than the UK but we're catching up.

This. So say otherwise is disingenuous.

She was fat.

And children. It’s very worrying, we’ve just got back from holiday and the amount of overweight children was quite eye opening.

Various people refer to Bridget as fat in the film. And the book!

Vile thing to say

Definitely fat, as in obese, not just overweight.Very clearly an unhealthy weight.
We have a huge problem with the normalisation of obesity and to be honest whilst we need positive help to address that, societal norms have always and will always be one of the most effective tools. So by all means offer weight loss drugs and healthy living/eating advice, but the most important tool is that everyone can see when fat is fat. And Monica in a fat suit is proper fat.

Ross's teeth, and the spray tan 😂😂😂

The poster is noting that it's not funny at all. That's the point.

She was fat.
What planet are we on where Fat Monica was not fat. No wonder the human race is in a crisis of self-awareness!

Gunther watching Joey belt Ross

She was fat and not even just a little bit. It’s the kind of reason trope 2 diabetes and some cancers and illness on the rise because so many people are fat. People are kidding themselves.,

I'm pretty sure it's mentioned that Monica weighed 250lbs in high school, which is about 18 stone. I'm the same height as Courteney Cox (5' 5") and I can assure you, I was most definitely fat when I weighed 18 stone. Nobody with eyes would have said anything different.

18 stone at 5' 5" is a BMI of 42, which is Category 3 (severely) obese.

I think some people want to normalise being fat. I see threads where people complain about healthy weight models being underweight and now this extreme, complaining a fat character isn’t fat. I think a small minority of people don’t wish fat to be seen as fat, and wish healthy weight to be seen as abnormal and underweight.

however everyone knows, we’ve eyes in our head, and the majority aren’t aligned.

being fat isn’t healthy, neither is being underweight. Neither should be normalised. And people need to stop trying to normalise fat and attacking a healthy weight,

Maybe they should start putting Ozempic in the water.

Yup. 255 pounds. That’s 115 kgs! If that's not fat, then what is?

In the 'what could have been' episode she's a bit smaller. In the flashbacks she's about the same size as Big Fat Sue from Gavin & Stacey

Yes. People saying things like "bUt A sIzE 16 iS tHe AvErAgE sIzE iN tHe Uk!" and "oh here come all the poster who think anything above a size 6 is fat!" are being disingenuous. 65% of the population is overweight or obese, so of course the average person is fat! Just because they are "average" for this country does not change that

A size 16 isn't necessarily fat - it's not if you're 5ft10 - but the average woman in this country is about 5ft3, which is most definitely fat at a size 16. And fat Monica is much bigger than a 16, more like a 22.

That doesn't make it ok to make mean jokes about people, of course, but hiding behind comments like "oh well in the 90s heroin chic was a thing!" is delusional.

You "would have certainly thought"? But you're guessing. Why guess when a quick internet search will tell you the correct answer - which is 16. 🙄 In the 1950's the average women's size was 12 so it's gone up 2 sizes in 70 years and you "certainly" think it's gone up another dress size in just 10 - 15 years? Honestly, do some basic research.

@alphajuliet123 not quite but I do genuinely believe that GLP1s will become far more widely used in the near future.

For example menopausal women are more susceptible to insulin resistance and could benefit from low doses.