THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 24, 1996 TAG: 9605240079
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 67 lines
WHEN IT comes to women you see on television, would you rather look like the three friends on ``Friends'' or Roseanne?
This is a question for girls in their teens, and even younger, who may have drifted over to this column today from ``Teenspeak.''
Chances are you would rather be the next Jennifer Aniston - as slim as Malibu Barbie - than the next Roseanne, who hasn't seen her waistline in years. There's a good show on Nickelodeon Wednesday at 8 p.m. that takes up the subject of why so many young people hate their bodies, why many are starving themselves in the hopes of being ``a little thinner, a little prettier.''
It's called ``Nick News Special Edition: The Body Trap.'' Check it out.
Host Linda Ellerbee opens the half hour by asking, ``Does everyone have to be skinny? We have come to accept that people come in different colors. What we have yet to accept is that people come in different shapes and sizes, and this, too, is OK.
``In America, almost nobody likes the way they look. And often we mistake looks for our personal worth.''
Ellerbee, actress-comedienne Rosie O'Donnell and the young panelists on this Nickelodeon special drive home the idea that you should be comfortable with what you see in the mirror.
``Do not judge people only by how they look on the outside. Look inside the person,'' suggests Ellerbee, who can tell you stories of bosses at three networks who lectured her about losing weight to measure up to TV's ``Charlie's Angels'' image of womanhood.
Children as young as 10, and that includes boys, start dieting in the hopes of having the lean, athletic body they see on TV, in films and magazines, and on billboards.
Angela, 10, comes on camera with Ellerbee to say that she hates herself. Angela weighs 107 pounds. Her friends weigh less. ``They're like mice and I'm the elephant,'' Angela says. ``I believe that fat is bad, ugly, horrible. I do not want to be fat.''
Nor does Christy, 13, who quit eating when she perceived herself as heavy, which she wasn't. Christy went from 121 pounds to 66 in seven months. ``I'm scared to death of being fat,'' says Christy, who has been hospitalized with anorexia. The good news is that Christy is eating again and has gained 10 pounds.
``This special,'' says Ellerbee, ``will not only give the young people a chance to speak freely about their looks but should inspire them to change the world and how it judges people. Our generation failed miserably at that.''
O'Donnell, who has starred in films and on Broadway, and will soon host a syndicated TV talk show, points out that she has succeeded before the cameras with a figure that doesn't measure up to a Vogue model's.
O'Donnell knows about insults. She tells about dressing up in a gorgeous designer gown while attending the Academy Awards ceremonies. ``My sister called me later and said I looked the best of all the big people there. That was hurtful.''
Ellerbee sits with kids who have also had hurtful moments. There are boys who have been teased for being short. And others who get joked about because they are big for their age. ``Learn to love what you are and not what you look like,'' Ellerbee says as the show winds down. ``Learn to love you.''
Ellerbee and her producers suggest that young African-American girls are less intimidated by what they call today's ``model culture.'' In other words, they won't die if they do not grow up to be the next Vanessa Williams.
What do you think about that? Call me on Infoline (640-5555, press 2486) with your comments after you see ``Nick News Special: The Body Trap.
It will be repeated June 2 at 8 p.m. Learn about kids with what Ellerbee calls a fear of fatness. by CNB