Gigantia, part four

Demographic changes

The widespread adoption of labour saving devices has contributed greatly to the increasing mass of the average Gigantean male, by reducing the need for physical activity. Most Gigantean men no longer have to walk any distance in their daily lives, whether going to work or at work or for recreation; neither do many have to pick up or move the heavy objects that were originally responsible for the genetic selection of larger males. Climbing stairs, pushing carts, carrying objects - all these have been reduced or eliminated. This reduction in activity has of course affected male size in most societies, but in Gigantia, thanks to such labour saving measures and the introduction of the Male Mass Stipend (which provides poorer men with the financial means to “beef-up”, and reinforces the societal expectation that they will), males have grown far more than elsewhere!

Their increase in size and fatness, combined with lessened physical activity, have also considerably reduced the life expectancy of the average Gigantean male. Even a mass-capable Gigantean frame can only carry so much extra weight soundly for years! While average adult male size is rising, average male life expectancy is falling - from 65 years in the early ‘70s, to 52 years now. Particularly noticeable is the rise in death rates for men in their early 40s - most noticeable among the much larger 40 year olds, the ones in the 700 pound plus group. Interestingly, researchers think there may be a link between greater longevity and physical activity - those with physically active jobs seem to live longer than the sedentary. Sumos, for example, seem to live longer at higher weights than most men. The fattest of the blimped-out computer programmers and video game jockeys seem to keel over sooner.

Gigantean medical researchers have been noticing that the life expectancy of Gigantean men seems to be corelated to when certain weight plateaux were achieved. For example, the average Gigantean male will live 11 years from the point at which he achieves 1000 pounds, 17 years from the time when he reaches 800 pounds (unless superceded by an increase to 1000 pounds), and so on. There is the an assymetric Bell curve in the figures thus far, and statistical deviation must be taken into account (the standard deviation is quite large, nearly 7 years for the 1000 pound level and almost 15 years for the 800 pound level, showing that some men do have bodies strong enough to live quite long times at virtuoso weights), but the trend is clear, and the figures enough for insurance and statistical purposes.

Tourism

Gigantia is rapidly becoming a tourist destination for the fat folks of other nations, especially North America and the Middle East. Gigantia is a place where all fat people can feel at ease, regardless of their size. A few Japanese sumo wrestlers have been seen on holidays, checking out the beaches. Even though many visiting Americans would qualify for immigration, mostly they do not want to move, just to enjoy a respite in a fat-friendly, fat-positive environment.

Should a visiting 400 pound American guy want to play volleyball on the beach, or relive his days as a football hero, or a 300 pound American woman decide to wear a thong bikini like her skinny sister back home, they will be perfectly at ease and comfortable, because they are surrounded by other fat people who are even larger than they, and who enjoying doing the same things. The American former college volleyball star who has ballooned to 400 pounds may well find that, when he decides to join in a pick-up game on the beach, he is the lightest player on the lot! Said fat guy may well be up against guys who outweigh him by 200 or 300 pounds - a team of six 600 pound volleyball players makes for a slower, but visually very exciting game - and there are always female Gigantean fans watching and cheering such pick-up games!

Lots of retired American football players who have “blimped” far beyond their old playing weights enjoy playing a game or two in the recreational Gigantean football leagues as a way to relive their past glory days, and demonstrate their “football form” to their wives and children. As recreational Gigantean football is similar to “arena football” in the USA, with smaller fields, less running, etc., it is easy for these retired blimps to “cover the field” as they once did - even if they have grown to 500 pounds or more, they will be outweighed by most of their new teammates.

The 300 pound thong wearing American beauty will be flirted with by confident, super-husky studly guys, perhaps also in thongs or at least in speedos, who will be packing double or even triple her avoirdupois. She will never need to feel ashamed of her appetite when eating in public, as she might in the USA, as the massive Gigantean stud who she’s picked up will have an appetite far larger than hers. While out with him, she can order big, rich meals confidently, or even indulge in “all you can eat” buffets, knowing that her date will always outeat her (unless, of course, she doesn’t want him to - Gigantean men are very accommodating, and all can afford to miss a meal or two!).

Clothing shopping for fat visitors is a relaxing experience, with shop clerks who truly understand the clothes needs of their fat visitors; in fact the clerks probably outweigh their visiting foreign clientele. The Gigantean garment industry makes full use of Gigantia’s CAD/CAM manufacturing base to turn out beautifully fitted clothes for the largest tourists. Of course, all the latest styles are available -either the real thing or as clever knock-offs, so super-sized young Americans, such as rap stars, can stock up on the latest Tommy `('half-tonner') or Point Zero while in Gigantia on their holidays.

Both beefed-up and well-fattened "Beach bums" are available to act as guides, and to service both female tourists and gay tourists. The ones in most demand seem to be the ones on the two extremes of fattening - the heavily muscled lightweights (350-450 pounds) and the fattest heavyweights (800 pounds plus).

Well fattened young Arab sheikhs are the latest arrivals in Gigantia. Most come for the holiday relaxation in a size-friendly, privacy-respecting atmosphere. One such prince, however, famed for his avoirdupois before arrival, was sent to a Gigantean fat farm by his father in the mistaken belief that he would somehow loose some of his 450 pounds. Instead, in sixteen weeks of “intense treatment” at a Gigantean fat spa, he ballooned to more than 600 pounds, and returned home bearing honourary Gigantean citizenship!


The Movie and TV industries

Movies where the studly 1200 pound hero strips to his undies, and every woman in the house gets feels a sensuous rush. Television shows in which the boyfriends pig out in almost every scene, and all their girlfriends want to do is feed them more. This is the image that the Gigantean film and television industry would like to project, the way they would like to be seen. Gigantean male reality may seem extreme to many visitors, but the movie view of the ideal Gigantean male is even further ‘out there’ - just like the guts of its heroes.

While small, Gigantean movie and TV industry has to provide films and entertainment to suit a people whose heroes do not fit the “slender, muscular” model popular with Hollywood. Slender men in Gigantia are regarded as losers, at best - Tom Cruise could be cast in Gigantia as a villain, but not as a good guy. Some shows are clearly adaptations of, or inspired by, popular Western hits, but there is a decent-sized Gigantean film community as well. Movie titles are often revealing of an audience’s tastes; its worth noting that recent Gigantean big-screen hits include: “Big as a House” pts I and II; “Cold Spot: Breakout”; “No Gut, No Glory”, parts 1-3, and “Buffet Encounter - a love story”.


The most popular Gigantean leading man today is ‘Randy’, a former footballer and wrestler who, at 915 pounds, is registered as a “Hero”- ranked sumo wrestler but by special Sumo League dispensation spends much of his time on movie shoots. His acting career has included a number of roles has played a number of roles, but he is most famous for his recurring role as a memorable superhero called “The Incredible Bulk”. Many Gigantean women remember him fondly as Tony, in a Gigantean big-screen adaptation of “West Side Story”. As Tony, his life was in danger from rival gangs because of his prowess at beating their champions in eating contests - and in the midst of this conflict he falls in love with a girl whose brother leads a rival gang.

“The Incredible Bulk” is a most memorable and remarkable superhero . Although the name would suggest a connection to the “The Incredible Hulk” of Marvel fame, “The Incredible Bulk” doesn’t change size or skin colour - though he does grow, from time to time! Randy has enjoyed great success with this series, whose plots generally follow well-known paths. The highlights of the plots of these action movies always present the hero’s great weight, tremendous strength, and/or immense appetite as the saving factor of the day, though plot devices such as:

1. The Incredible Bulk jumps onto the landing struts of the villains’ helicopter, whereupon his great weight overloads it, causing it not to take off (or to crash);
2. Tied up in the back of the villains’ truck, The Incredible Bulk rolls against one side of the truck while it is rounding a sharp curve; his great weight shifts the truck’s centre of balance, causing it to fall over from centrifugal force;
3. By jumping up and down inside the villain’s truck, The Incredible Bulk makes the springs break and the frame collapse down around the wheels, causing the truck to drag to a halt;
4. By jumping up and down in the sealed room where he and the heroine have been imprisoned, The Incredible Bulk’s great weight smashes through the floor and he and the heroine escape;
5. By taking repeated runs at the door/walls of the cabin where he and the heroine are imprisoned, The Incredible Bulk is able use the enormous momentum that comes with his great weight to burst through them;
6. Using his vast strength, The Incredible Bulk bends the kidnappers’ guns into useless pretzels, and then with his great weight he jumps up and down on their handguns, crushing and ruining them;
7. The kidnappers plan to hole up for 10 days with their captives, but The Incredible Bulk breaks his way into their stores and, thanks to his immense appetite, eats their entire food supply and drinks their entire water supply in one day, forcing them to surrender early;
8. The Incredible Bulk is imprisoned in a walk-in freezer, but because of his vast body size and huge internal heat generation, he does not chill quickly. Because of his immense appetite, driven further by his need to stay warm, he eats 250+ pounds of the frozen foods per day. Also to help keep warm, he takes runs at the walls of the freezer, and the impact of his great weight in these collisions causes the wall’s rivets to slowly fail under the impact (or he exercises by pulling on the freezer machinery and hanging from the pipes with his great weight and tremendous strength, causing them to leak and fail) so he (is found when the freezer stops working and the alarms go off, or when the freezer wall fails from too many impacts and) escapes;
9. While trying to rescue the trapped heroine, The Incredible Bulk is captured and his hands are tied to a ceiling beam; by using his tremendous strength he is able to lift his feet off the floor, whereupon his great weight makes the ceiling beam buckle and collapse, letting the heroine escape. His great weight is able to similarly collapse a wall beam in another program.
10. He leaps out of a fifth storey window onto some scaffolding directly above the bad guys; the scaffolding collapses under his great weight, killing them.


Another superhero in Gigantean comics, especially popular among fat and superfat male teens, is the “Flabinator”, who is a more traditional superhero, in that he changes when he engages his superpower - and his superpower is that his gut grows at need! The Flabinator began in comic books, then moved on to animated shorts; soon the first Flabinator live action film will be in production. There is much rivalry for the lead role, which requires a young actor with magnetic looks and a massive low-hanging belly roll - in non-superhero mode, the Flabinator already has an epic sized belly, which be further enhanced by the movies’ software magicians; starting with a super sagging belly helps them get the swing right. When not in superhero mode, the Flabinator appears to be a man in the 800-1000 pound class, but of the heavy-gutted, bottom heavy sort, with the aforementioned massive low-hanging belly roll - in superhero mode, his gut expands, well, heroically!

As a comic book hero, however, the Flabinator’s image is much emulated already, especially among the superfat teen males, many of whom have Flabinator costumes for parties. (The best Flabinator costumes include an inflatable gut with air pump to enlarge and shrink it on demand.) The Flabinator’s bouncing, extensible-on-command low-rider gut is the chief source of his superpowers. When not in superhero mode, the Flabinator’s gut severely impedes his mobility; he has a unicycle support wheel which he puts under his gut overhang to assist him to move around. He also tends to rest his gut overhang on things (tables, chair backs, railings) whenever he is not moving about, to help support its great weight. Of course, the tables, railings etc. occasionally fall apart under his gut’s crushing weight - which is as nothing compared to its oppressing mass when the Flabinator is in superhero mode.

In superhero mode, the Flabinator’s gut expands to “monstrous size” - probably in the two to three ton range, though some of the stories would suggest upwards of ten tons - and the Flabinator retains (or actually gains) the ability to carry it about, while gaining powers of directing it, shaping it and controlling its movement. He often uses it as a battering ram, or lifts it on top of an item (like a car or a computer) that must be crushed. He has also used his superhero gut as a roadblock - in this mode, it appears his gut may well be able to exceed ten tons. As well, in superhero mode, the Flabinator is able to ingest vast quantities of liquids and loose solids - naturally, he prefers food, but this is not always the case - and hold these in his belly. Such intake adds further to the mass of his belly, and is either digested if food (which leaves some permanent gain effect in non-superhero mode) or expelled if not food.

Another comic book hero in Gigantia who may someday make the leap to the big screen is “Superfatman”. Since his arrival in Gigantia from Krypton, the comic portrayal of Superfatman has grown from merely enormous (900 pounds) to truly titanic (at least a ton).

In media and style circles, a cartoon character called "The Flabster" often introduces new fashions.

Future explorations :

Gigantean scientists researching various topics under the general heading of “how to maximize future-male-mass”. These include:

• theoretical and practical maximum weights for men of various heights and body types; including considerations of various degrees of immobility (BMI is not always a good predictor of maximal weight!)
• how best to increase the male mass carrying capacity, including considerations such as degree and types of exercise and mobility training, eating and growth training plans in both boyhood and manhood, early or later gains, rapidity of gains, and genetics - both breeding and genetic engineering
• how to extend the male life span at highest weights - medically, through lifestyle changes, and by genetics
• studying the effect of changing growth patterns of males, including the societal push for rapid early gains, a consideration of delayed or later gains, and the effect of the steepness and continuity of the growth curve on maximum weight and longevity


Among the specific, focussed research currently underway are trials in the following areas:

• using anti-cholesterol drugs to deal with the artery clogging effects of the high-fat Gigantean diet (a diet which is actually getting fatter, as average Gigantean male caloric consumption increases),

• the potential use of artificial hearts to better able to cope with the high pumping and arterial loads of an active, hugely fat Gigantean man, while reducing cardiac artery clogging, whether as replacements for failing hearts or as supplemental pumps,

• the role of various hormones including testosterone in male growth and fat distribution
• the use of human growth hormone in growing boys to increase the size and strength of skeleton and basic muscular system, to allow carrying more weight later in life

• dietary modifications to promote growth and health

• the effect of new exercise systems on mobility, health, and growth.