Shrinking Stars

Every year a new group of famous people shrink dramatically in front of our media enhanced eyes, with almost an immediate, practically effortless ease. It gets picked up slowly at first, a quick snapshot of them leaving a show, out for dinner, looking shinier than usual, more of a spark, a new confidence, we are not quite sure at first if it is a trick of the light, their pose, new clothes which fit better than usual, or if they are actually shrinking. It makes us think about them for a little while, especially if we like the person, their work, how they are successful despite not being the size zero that we usually see staring back at us from a glossy magazine, we like them, but then the write up mentions that they appear slimmer, and we look more at the photo, and agree.
Over the next few weeks the the media gets more interested in the shrinker, they offer approximate pounds lost, the new found miracle diet that they are following, the details of the extreme exercise routing being followed, and the reasons it is all happening. The media coverage becomes more intrusive, almost unrelentless, until the shrinker has to reveal all to a chat show host, a daily newspaper, or via a spokesperson. They admit that they have reached a point that even their happy go lucky, dont care about my weight, attutude cannot hide how unhealthy and dangerous carrying the blubber was and so begins the rest of the dieting journey, followed closely by media and consumer alike. Every detail of the weightloss is shared, the highs and lows, the aims for the future, the possibility of a dvd, and the hope of a book, all with the undercurrent of 'if I can do it, so can you'. The 'cheaters;, gastric band users, are torn apart psychologically, for their inability to take charge without medical help is a sign of weakness, they make easy prey for the media vultures, the diy dieters gain slightly more recognision for their hard work, photos in all their pre loss glory grace the inside pages of newspapers for all to see. They tell of their suffering and self hatred, and how they reached their enough is enough point. They allow their most awful photos to be published, the more unsightly the better, they may be trying hard but they need to suffer a little too, they need to be newsworthy to gain any respect for the time they actually lose all the weight, it has to build up to ensure maximum interest. They learn to put aside embarrassment and inhibition, this is their time, a means to an end.
Soon, without hardly any work at all it seems, they are a size 12 and fitting into tiny clothes in a photographers studio for a double spread in a sunday supplement. They smile, tell the world how they couldnt have done it without their fantastic family, and how they will never put the weight back on. But of course we, the general public, sadly, want them to fail, a little, we need to see them lose the battle, to show they are human, not just famous and invincible, we need to know they are just like us...so we wait...for the weight to come back...