I am admittedly a huge fan of Louis C.K. and his distinct brand of iconoclasm. Louis is a sort of modern cultural soothsayer, a self-effacing yet bold appraiser of the absurdities of our modern world. Though I don’t watch much television, I make it a point to see his FX program as often as possible, so I was surely disappointed last week to see C.K. attempt to address the the issue of fat acceptance. And, this time, Louis simply got it wrong.
The scene occurs when a hefty waitress, Vanessa, pursues our protagonist by repeatedly asking him out. Louis is obviously uninterested despite getting blown out when trying to talk to any of the attractive waitresses at the comedy club. Louis later ashamedly agrees to a pity date with Vanessa after she buys him off with hockey tickets, and on the date she launches into a tirade about the difficulty of dating in New York as a fat 30-something woman. The thrust of the argument is that women are not allowed to mention the misery of fatness, while men (e.g. comedians) are rewarded as “adorable” for pointing out the foibles of being a fat person.
Anyone who is paying attention to the social tradewinds of the anglosphere knows that this premise is wrong. The ever-burgeoning fat acceptance movement has attempted to make it socially unacceptable to voice the elemental disgust that comes with observing fatness, working against the deeply ingrained disgust for obesity that we harbor in our lizard brains. Fat people enjoy activist groups, fat-only magazines, increasing prevalence of “plus size” models, fat celebrities, and a placating culture that refuses to tell anyone that they are living their life in an unhealthy manner. Despite the fact that it’s never been easier to be fat in our society, Vanessa continues with the litany of things that she feels entitled to.
“Why do you hate us so much? What is is about the basics of human happiness — feeling attractive, feeling loved, having guys chase after us, that’s just not in the cards for us? Nope. Not for us.”
This absurdity is where Louis failed in giving a voice to this movement, because their struggle is motivated by greed and delusion rather than equal rights. Having people chase after you is now a basic human right? In the same way fat women are invisible to men, men of low status (e.g. “betas,” “losers”, etc.) are similarly invisible to women. We can replace her complaints with the equivalent male arguments and observe their absurdity:
“Sure I’m a cheeto-munching slob who lives in my parents’ basement, has no career prospects, poor social skills, and spends all day reading the internet. But why do attractive women hate us so much? What is it about the basics of human happiness, being desired, getting easy sex with women, having female heads turn as we walk into the room that’s just not in the cards for us?”
Can anyone see the second paragraph eliciting any modicum of sympathy in our society? She continues:
“You know what the sad thing is? It’s all I want. I mean, I can get laid. Any woman who is willing can get laid. I don’t want that. I don’t even need a boyfriend or a husband. All I want is to hold hands with a nice guy, and walk and talk —”
The male equivalent would be this:
“You know what the sad thing is? It’s all I want. I mean, of course I can get a fat girl who be my girlfriend. Any guy who is willing to put up with enough agony can get a girlfriend who walks all over them, spends their money, and cheats on them. I don’t want that. I don’t even need a rotating harem of 9s. All I want is to have girls desire me for some occasional casual fun without too much trouble and commitment.”
The first part of the statement is the only part of the soliloquy that hints at actual Red Pill understanding—women can always have sex, but it is commitment that eludes females of low sexual marketplace value, just as sex is what eludes men of similar status. Any man expressing these sentiments of entitlement would first be laughed out of the room and then deemed a monster for his outrageous demands despite his low status. But because it is a woman making irrational complaints, it is no surprise that Jezebel, HuffPo, and other blue pill media outlets are in love with Louis for “creating a dialogue” about the issue.
The funny thing is, despite her undesirable looks, Vanessa is portrayed as being smart, funny, and charming. The truth is that there are truckfulls of incel neckbearded Redditors who would line up around the block to date a nice person with so many nice qualities, even in a highly competitive city like New York. Undoubtedly, though, these are not the men whose attention she craves. No, “all” she wants is to hold hands, walk, talk, and be wooed by a nice attractive guy. This is the central absurdity of her sense of entitlement, and beyond a cursory look at the issues Louis does nothing to convince us that we should feel bad about it. In fact. the absurdity of her complaining is put into high relief by the background of the scene, where we see dozens of people rollerblading, jogging, and biking past them in the park, actively improving themselves rather than complaining about a lot in life for which they bear a significant amount of responsibility.
As others have predicted, we are moving towards a society in which men will be increasingly penalized for their innately-specified preferences for young, attractive, fit, and feminine women. Louie is usually on-point, but this bit of airtime marks a disappointing concession to those trying to erase the idea of personal responsibility and meritocracy in our society.
Read More: 5 Ways To Eject From A Relationship
