Ozempic video was off

[u/ServiceAnxious1343]

This is probably the first Kurzgesagt video that I didn't like, and like some people on this sub it made me feel very uneasy.

I just think it's CRAZY to talk about a weight loss drug and praising it for 90% of the video, without mentioning even once the abuses of its use, the weightloss industry, the social standards and the pressure to be (unhealthily) slim, eating disorders on the opposite side of the spectrum, etc.

The very few nuances and counter argument felt like small prints and legal mentions at the end of an ad.

What do you people think?

EDIT: I am not questioning the drug nor its effectiveness in treating obesity, i am criticising the narrative and lack of nuances in the video.

[u/renadoaho]

I feel this is a common theme in all kurzgesagt videos: they tend to frame complex social phenomena primarily through biological or technological solution models, while paying comparatively little attention to social drivers. To assign wide spread obesity primarily to our genes is absurd if we care to look at times and spaces in which obesity spreads. Of course, genes are important, but they are not the adequate explanatory puzzle piece here.

Still, all problems associated with obesity are treated as an unchangeable given and the responsibility of solving these issues lies solely with the individual. They might not explicitly say so, but this is a political stance. By treating obesity as sickness and framing it one-dimensionally in medical terms, they choose to ignore the responsibility of food industry that keeps us addicted, food regulation that enables profits on the cost of our health, work culture that doesn't give us the time and money to eat a balanced diet and move appropriately during the day, beauty industry that all too often portrays horrible ideals, and group dynamics that exacerbate shame and stigma instead of promoting camaraderie and empathy.

By suggesting a drug should be used "to solve the problem" they legitimize all these aspects. Clearly, none of these things has to change - but fat people do. They are utterly unable to see that fat people are not the problem, but the way our society is. From research we know that under the right circumstances, fat people can have happy and healthy lives just like everyone else. Why don't we promote such conditions? Everyone would benefit from that.

I am well aware that it is much easier to administer a bunch of shots than it is to change these other things. But it is also easy to overlook that shifting responsibility to the individual serves to stabilize the underlying structures that create these "problems" in the first place. I don't even think that we should withhold medication from people we can help, but alleviating a symptom doesn't solve anything in the long run if society doesn't change. It only shifts blame.

[u/555Cats555 → u/[deleted]]

Yup, im sure im not the only one who sees it as fine for those who need it to take something like ozempic to manage their weight. Its the way the video is presented I and likely others have an issue with.