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Post by igs on Oct 30, 2017 7:31:42 GMT
Ok I have never lost weight due to cancer, but if I did I think I'd prefer a well-meaning "wow you look great!" to "poor dear, you are wasting away" (or the constant "you must be anorexic" I got throughout my childhood and teens cause I was athletic.) If someone doesn't tell you they are dying of cancer they probably don't want you to know! I'd imagine I'd want people to treat me normally which includes complimenting my perceived good looks.
I should take ellie's advice and give this thread a rest cause it's seriously blowing my mind and not in a good way. But can someone explain why it would be so awful if BC was vegan? As bad as smoking apparently. He's obviously not one of those militant vegans even if he is vegan because we're not seeing him preaching the house down.
ETA: Heh, I just turned on the radio for the news and you'll never guess the biggest talk of the day. The president of our Republic doesn't eat meat! Or apparently he "may indulge himself once a week" so not really vegetarian but whatever, attempts to not consume meat products. The meat farmers and factory owners are flipping out over the president "abandoning the Finnish meat industry." 😂
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Post by mllemass on Oct 30, 2017 11:23:10 GMT
When you're a celebrity, you have an influence over others whether you like it or not. Remember what happened with Oprah Winfrey years ago? She made a negative comment about eating meat, and she was sued for ruining the entire meat industry in the US! She actually had to defend herself in court!
About the whole vegan thing - I think people just like to see others doing what they are doing. It makes them feel less "different" if someone like Benedict Cumberbatch is also vegan. Or they feel like they're not alone when a co-worker is also trying to lose weight. They feel a connection, and people like to feel connected.
I think we should be grateful that Benedict hasn't been caught supporting something truly awful. Being a vegan is probably as contraversial as he gets!
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Post by igs on Oct 30, 2017 12:47:36 GMT
Oh dear, I had no clue that Oprah was sued for speaking against meat! Anyways, I was talking of our actual president, not some random celebrity. And first of all, the Finnish legal system would classify that suit as a joke suit and refuse to handle it (the US claims to be pro-freedom of speech but you can't express your thoughts on veganism? Give me a break!) Also, he's the president and wouldn't be sued for that anyways lol. If his choices inspire others to reduce their meat consumption then good for him!
Why is being vegan controversial? I mean seriously, what can possibly be negative about it? No one has yet given an answer to this.
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Post by ellie on Oct 30, 2017 13:04:54 GMT
I don't think it's about feeling alone. It's just about recognising that somebody has said or done something that is either interesting to you or that you feel deserves comment.
In the case of BC being a Vegan, I just found it interesting. I probably found it more interesting because I'm a vegetarian so, you know, when I hear somebody famous is a vegetarian/vegan, I just think "oh that's interesting, I didn't know that." It doesn't have any kind of impact on my happiness with my choice of diet. To me it's more like the reaction you have when you find out you share a birthday with a celeb or that they went to the same university as you or something. Just a sort of "Oh really, I didn't know that."
Yes I guess I'm happier to hear he's a vegan than I was when he said he enjoyed Fois Gras but neither one is enough to have a major impact on my opinion of him in isolation.
As for commenting on weight loss, then yes there is the possibility it may be through illness but it is far more likely to be through deliberate effort and most people enjoy the fact that people notice the results.
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Post by onebluestocking on Oct 30, 2017 15:00:54 GMT
I was a vegetarian for five years, but couldn't maintain it while cooking for my family, unfortunately. I did like the diet, but not everyone did, and it was too hard making multiple main dishes every night. In my case I never volunteered lectures, explanations, or anything else about it, but my experience was that people questioned me and in some cases were very snotty about it. I think people assume the worst: vegetarian = holier than thou, when probably in most cases the vegetarian would rather not be in the spotlight and expected to explain and defend their food choices all the time. For example, I worked in an office where employees took turns bringing bagels for a weekly meeting. When it was one woman's turn, she decided she would bring McDonald's sausage biscuits and demanded that I eat one because "she didn't want anyone left out." When I tried to discreetly not eat anything, she pressed me repeatedly and finally insisted that I "just pick the meat off and give it to someone else." Of course this doesn't help if you're trying to reduce the amount of meat used in the world! I responded that I did not bring doughnuts and insist that the people on diets eat one, why was it anyone's business what I ate or not? But she even came to my cubicle after the meeting to argue with me about it. If you asked her, she would probably explain it as an issue of militant vegetarians causing problems at office meetings. Anyway, I'd be surprised at this news, since BC has been a pretty big meat eater in the past. He may be dieting, or coincidentally attending a vegan festival and restaurant just because friends were there. Or, perhaps he is working toward a healthier lifestyle along with quitting smoking. Either way, I expect it will go by the wayside when he has to bulk up for Dr. Strange. I think he lived on chicken when training for Khan.
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Post by onebluestocking on Oct 30, 2017 15:12:18 GMT
I don't get it either. If someone tweets "BC supports our charity," "came to see our band," "patronized our store/restaurant/etc." I don't think it's necessary for that person to be a BC fan first. They are understandably excited at the exposure from a celebrity. I suppose technically that could be considered "using" BC's name, but I don't see that it's so terrible to be enthusiastic about a famous person sharing your interest.
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Post by MagdaFR on Oct 30, 2017 15:34:14 GMT
Why is being vegan controversial? I mean seriously, what can possibly be negative about it? No one has yet given an answer to this. I think that the fact that we need B12 vitamin and it is only found on animal products speaks against veganism. I know that now you can have supplements or shots, but where would people be if in the past their ancestors were vegan? Nowhere. Their ancestors would have died from pernicious anemia and very probably mad. I've been raised on an almost red meat diet on a daily basis because here it was very cheap compared to chicken or fish. I'm not defending a meat diet. Cancer rates here are very high, one of the worst in the world; the two major cause of death are cardiovasvular diseases and cancer. I think both extremes are bad. I don't have a problem with veganism but you can't defend all animals. What about rats? Are their lives precious?
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Post by onebluestocking on Oct 30, 2017 15:36:59 GMT
Unless you're eating rats, it doesn't relate to veganism!
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Post by ellie on Oct 30, 2017 15:42:26 GMT
I have had many similar experiences OBS. I never refer to the fact I'm a Vegetarian unless a situation arises where it is necessary such as having to ask what the "vegetarian option" is in a restaurant. Or when I may need to ask for just the bread and vegetables at a BBQ. I guarantee that almost every time I get "oh, you're a Vegetarian. Why did you decide to give up meat?"
Now if I went round asking people why they eat meat I would be accussed of trying to inflict my views on them or having a problem wuth meat eaters. But it seems that it's perfectly OK to quiz vegetarians critique their views. I just find it strange rather than annoying. What exactly is it about not eating meat that people find strange or borderline subversive?
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Post by ellie on Oct 30, 2017 15:51:56 GMT
I mostly agree with you Magda. All extremes tend to be a bad idea.
The Vegan diet really needs to be done properly if the person is going to get the necessary nutrients. But then the Western World problem of obesity driven illnesses is mostly down to non Vegans adopting bad diets.
I would argue that a meat free diet is, on balance, healthier. But that does depend on what you eat instead. I have a friend who is a Lacto Ovo Vegetarian like me but his diet mainly comprises croissants and vegetarian pizzas! Not the road to glowing health!😀
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