Demi Lovato chides Disney for joking about eating disorders

Seriously, Disney should be ashamed of itself for having its show Shake It Up say, "I could just eat you guys up... you know, if I ate."

http://www.care2.com/causes/disney-jokes-about-eating-disorders-apologize.html

Oh, and here's a scene with the joke, which I don't think is anything wrong, but if there is, it's not a joke about the model who doesn't eat.

Poor chick, i really pity her

I don't think this kind of topic has ever been in the comedic spotlight before, primarily because it's very hard to make any kind of eating disorder hilarious unless it comes from something external from a character and their own biology/psychology.

Why Disney thought they could is beyond me.

Either way, there's now an open writing position within the Disney company now, who wants it?

To be honest, I just do not see the problem here. I would consider it in poor taste if the joke made fun of people's sufferings, or if it somehow implied that people with eating disorders are inferior; but as it is, it's nothing like that at all.

The laugh track going on continuously in the background is vastly more offensive, as far as I am concerned.

edited 30th Dec '11 10:16:35 AM by Carciofus

We openly make fun of much worse things than eating disorders, and even eating disorders get their fair share of stabs, just not on Disney.

Don't care really.

I'm with Carc.

If it were anywhere but Disney, I would assume that the laugh track and horrible acting was meant to portray some sort of sarcastic irony to what she said, but since it's Disney, it's just bad jokes and bad acting.

With Carc.

I'm hideously used to eating disorder jokes really...They make up a good portion of the jokes in the Sailor Moon Abridged series. Oh bulimia jokes...

I and my family regularly make them as well. Often times in regards to my cat (when stressed she refuses to eat for days on end and it's really quite distressing) and myself (I've been having great difficulty eating lately and when stressed I can't keep anything down save soup). So in that fashion they're coping mechanisms. "LET'S LAUGH IN THE FACE OF SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BECOME AN EATING DISORDER TO MAKE IT LESS SCARY".

I have more tact around strangers though. Unless they are in an area in which I am already comfortable.

I am also with Barkey.

Well they did pull the episode, so I think that's a good thing.

I think we have a trope for this.

x9 I'd take it but I don't think Disney would approve of stories invoing full frontal nudity, lesbianism and BDSM.

This is nothing new. I could name plenty of other books/movies etc that have made a similar joke.

Let's see, Maskerade by Terry Pratchett. Devil Wears Prada. That joke sign that pops up sometimes saying 'Please Don't Feed the Models'.

I always thought the joke was on excessive dieting rather than an eating disorder.

Well i don't follow gossip but am guessing that Demi was speaking out of personal experience and that the joke hit a nerve with her. i do know from someone whose seen it that Disney has a huge set of dos and don't for their actord and even moreso their actresses to follow.

...it's not even that good of a joke...

Meh. Whatever. The whole gay calender shit bothers me far more than this. This is just kind of pitiful, honestly.

Gay calendar? Do i want to know?

No you don't.

What's the problem? A joke was made. I agree with Carc.

Dammit Disney, if you're going to make tasteless jokes at least bother hiring writers and actors. My high school theater class put out better material than this.

I think that laugh tracks are generally offensive too. A cheap way of telling the audience to laugh at things that aren't funny. Anyway, eating disorders are just like anything else - impossible for those to understand for those who have no firsthand or even secondhand experience with them. A little sensitivity couldn't be too demanding, could it?

Joke: Who cares, seriously?

Laugh-track: Heinous.

I think the problem is that the comment clearly isn't a joke, because otherwise it'd be funny.

This just continues to show that not only does Disney have the worst writing staff, but also no spine at all when it comes to defending their material.

Offensiveness is subjective by its very nature. I bet many, if not most, of the people indignant at this joke might be inclined to use jokes that I might find offensive.

^

Exactly.

Which means, grow thicker skin and stop getting offended.

That's my advice to the people who are offended anyway, since they laugh at things some might not find funny, we all do. Might as well laugh at everything then.

tldr: Demi Lovato is butthurt.

People should stop watching Disney because of the mediocre shows... not some random joke about eating disorders...

edited 31st Dec '11 3:12:46 PM by Baff