There is a place in London for overweight smokers. The new denizens of our society, who are cast out from pubs and forced to stand outside. Some clubs have even tried to ban these plump puffers altogether. That place is the opera. On stage in the Albert Hall last Thursday during a performance of Carmen, a mass of overweight smokers chuffed away like chimneys to rapturous applause. Here, they went from being the underdogs to the lead part. For 3 hours they were adored. Of course, a lot was down to the fact that they could sing too, dance a bit, and also eat a lot of bread in between arias. A multitude of superior dramatic skills, you must agree. So the stars of opera at least, are chosen for their talents rather than their looks.
Although while Carmen hadn’t exactly hit all the branches in a fall from the ugly tree, she was more ‘voluptuous’ than the average singer-cum-actress-cum-model-cum-presenter-who-cums-on-the-producer of today. Yet all the male characters fall in love with Carmen. Her, the one with the big bum and wobbly bits, not the other super skinny, size 6 gypsies. And the guy she chooses to fall in love with out of all the men on offer to her is the hapless soldier Don Jose, who looked just like any other fat guy from the office who Ricky Gervais would tell to ‘go for a fucking run and stop eating burgers.’ (Actually, comedy seems to be the only other performing art that welcomes the overweight smoker with such open arms.)
On that operatic stage, the ones who ate all the pies were captivating heroes, transporting you effortlessly to 19th century Spain, pulling you into the intense turmoil of their lives with a vice-like grip on your throat, leaving you choking back emotions with embarrassment when the lights come up at the end.
Apparently Carmen was the first Realistic opera, what the Italians refer to as Verismo, meaning the truth. Instead of taking its characters from the aristocracy, they came from proletarian life. Contemporary, everyday life was depicted, which would have been a bit of a shock to audiences back in late 19th century Europe. Today, although it’s not exactly shocking, Carmen can still surprise its 21st century audience for different reasons. These days, due to our unhealthy obsession with health and weight, we’re not used to seeing larger people in sexy and beguiling roles. They’re almost regarded as a turn-off. But in Carmen, the large leads are very sexual, with much seduction and many throes of passion being played out on the stage floor.
So Carmen is as refreshing as it ever was, staying true to its original Verismo style. Yet now it’s not a question of representing the proletariat but the inferior class of today, that is, the fat person. And the truth is, by 2012, 1 in 3 Londoners will be obese. Therefore we can’t go on hiding fat people from the limelight and constantly vilifying them. They are a part of our society, and have the right to be celebrated too. I mean, who put stick-thin, talentless air-heads such as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan in charge anyway? It’s time they were overthrown. I know who’d win in a fight between them and Carmen. And actually, I mean because of her ‘interior security, strength of temperament and personality’, not just the fact that all she has to do is sit on them till they cry like babies for mercy.
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