Say... Is That My Butt?

I'm a bit of a news junkie, so I tend to notice various trends and habits of our local newscasts.  And over the past several years, I've noticed a disturbing trend concerning news stories devoted to anything related to diets.

I couldn't help but notice that every time a TV station does a story regarding diets, they seem to be obligated to show footage of overweight people while the newscaster reads the story.  Apparently the TV people think that we, the viewers, might have forgotten what large people look like, so we need this important visual aid.

So last night, for example, they were telling a story about how Taco Bell is creating their own "Drive-Through Diet" (which I'm sure is extremely effective), and they illustrated the story with footage of enormous people waddling down the street.

To make matters worse, they usually slow the footage down to make it look more dramatic.  To their credit, I have not yet seen a news report where they add sound effects, like the ones you'd hear in Jurassic Park when the dinosaurs are stomping around.  I'm sure they'll begin doing that soon enough.

I am almost positive that it's the same footage that they show every time they do one of these stories.  Surely, as often as they feature dietary stories, they don't tell some poor camera guy, "Hey Mark, go down to the donut shop, and get us some more B-roll footage of the back ends of enormous folks for the 6:00."  Instead, I'm sure they just re-use the same stuff time after time.

They usually show these video victims from behind, and they crop them from the neck down, as if to say, "Whoa, that is one gigantic fanny."  I feel voyeuristic just watching these stories.  And I doubt very much that the video crew asked permission to record these folks ("Hi.  I'm from WONK-TV, and I couldn't help but notice that you're enormous.  Would you mind if I videotape your butt while you waddle down the street?")

I dunno.  One of these days I just know I'm going to see my own butt on one of these stories.