Getting to the bottom of it

Dear Gabriel

I am a skinny person but I am intrigued by the idea of fatness, and I have this idea to set a novel in a fat farm where people come to lose weight. On the one hand I want to treat this as a serious issue – which I think it is – but at the same I’m wondering if I can introduce any humour to such a weighty issue (see there it popped out). And what is it exactly, do you think, that drives obesity?

Thanks

Jacqui

Hi Jacqui

I think this is a great idea for a novel – and the possibilities are endless. Obesity, weight and looks are certainly topical and we seem more obsessed by food than any other era. There is of course irony in the fact that some parts of the world are grappling with obesity and others with hunger. But I digress.

I honestly think we have not quite gotten to the bottom of why some people become overweight and I suspect as the science of genes and hormones and brain chemistry gets better we’ll find more answers. Whatever the biological basis for weight gain, this, I believe, will interact in complex ways with our psyches.

Here, and I’ll come out of the closet about this, I’m with Oprah. I think overweight-ness is partly driven by moods, feelings, needs and patterns which have not been adequately expressed and explored. Boredom, sadness, low self esteem, feelings of depression and anxiety can all fuel overeating. And then of course many of us were raised with complex relationships to food because our parents themselves related to food in a particular way. Being forced to eat certain foods, being given guilt inducing messages about leaving food on the plate, being told that we show love through eating the food our mothers prepared for us, can all leave us confused, anxious and mixed up about food.

And of course we are all bombarded with messages about how we should look, and for some of us these messages came from our families, giving them extra sting and weight. See there is the potential for humour, but I would give it a really light touch. Being overweight is seldom fun for the person who is overweight, and, let’s be honest, jolliness is usually a mask.

So good luck Jacqui. Who knows, in writing this novel you might get some insights into your interest in food (or lack of interest!)?

Regards

Gabriel

If you want to ask Gabriel a question about your fictional character please contact him on