Crisis

This was posted on the Tosh.0 blog the other day.  Lots of people making all kinds of smart, snarky, racist comments about it.  Humor and comedy are important, as they can serve as vehicles for helping us to cope with disasters or human tragedy.  This photo illustrates human tragedy, most certainly.  It also illustrates disaster in terms of the health epidemic that is wrecking our country.  Oftentimes, what constitutes funny is irony.  Laughing about something that's not really funny (at all) is a way to acknowledge the severity of something (like racism, poverty, etc...) without actually naming it.

Well, let's take a minute to name it... because sometimes, those doing the laughing don't really understand the layers, nor are they privy to the intellectual processes that motivate someone toward the use of irony .

A little critical analysis on this image will reveal hidden structures of oppression.

• Obesity - A chronic disease related to poor diet and physical activity, which is disproportionately impacting low income and African American communities.
• Poverty - This woman is very obviously economically disempowered.  I wonder if she might even be homeless.  
• Health - both physical and mental health appear to be issues in this image.  This woman may be a narcoleptic, mentally ill, or suffering from some other condition. 

So, yes.... Maybe some people find this image to be humorous at first glance.  However, this is a human being who is clearly suffering in numerous ways. It's not really funny, at all, when you start to think about what's actually going on here and what this image represents.  It's unfortunate that this image is circulating the net. I can't even imagine how embarrassing that would be, if she were to find out.  It's really very, very sad.  

I also feel sad for her little dog.  Poor baby. It's probably a little bit upset that someone is hovering with a camera next to its owner, with the bad intentions of exploiting the situation.

Sorry to be a buzz kill. This just struck a chord with me.