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The fiction diet
Jan. 28th, 2015 12:22 pmI have posted previously on some ways in which the physical world works differently in fiction. Necklace clasps part obligingly at the slightest tug. 100,000 Turks can stand roaring outside your tower, but until you open your flimsy wooden shutters, you hear not a sound.
My latest sighting is the fact that weight loss works very differently in fiction. In just the last few months, I have noticed this in at least half a dozen different places. A female character, described as "plump," is encountered again after three stressful days of worry. "She had clearly lost a lot of weight," we are told. Another character, a "big girl," is ill for two days. When she reappears, she is "gaunt."
Why is this, I wonder? Do fictional characters actually require an daily intake of 50,000 calories to power all their internal monologues and character arcs, and thus are far harder hit by fasting than we mere mortals, with our 2000 - 3000 average needs? Are there any lessons the real world dieter can learn from this?
My latest sighting is the fact that weight loss works very differently in fiction. In just the last few months, I have noticed this in at least half a dozen different places. A female character, described as "plump," is encountered again after three stressful days of worry. "She had clearly lost a lot of weight," we are told. Another character, a "big girl," is ill for two days. When she reappears, she is "gaunt."
Why is this, I wonder? Do fictional characters actually require an daily intake of 50,000 calories to power all their internal monologues and character arcs, and thus are far harder hit by fasting than we mere mortals, with our 2000 - 3000 average needs? Are there any lessons the real world dieter can learn from this?
