Pavarotti: not enough food in world!

October 15, 2002 7:27 PM

Pavarotti: not enough food in world!
Luciano "If it weren't for singing I'd never stop eating" Pavarotti (who was once a UN 'messenger of peace') is now an official spokesman for the UN FAO's Anti-Hunger campaign. Yeah... Pavarotti => food => war on hunger??? Isn't that sorta like making Gene Simmons official spokesman for the 'War on De-Flowered Virgins'? [FYI: tomorrow is World Food Day].
posted by blackholebrain (18 comments total)

ha ha ha! that Pavarotti is so fat!
posted by tolkhan at 8:14 PM on October 15, 2002

It is kind of an odd choice though. "Mister, could I please have a bite of your arm flap?" ..
posted by stifford at 8:35 PM on October 15, 2002

I have a colleague who sings in the opera and insists his rotund shape and excessive weight is at the 'optimum' for perfect vocals. He may just be shitting me though. Does anybody know if this is true?
posted by Stan Chin at 8:38 PM on October 15, 2002

'War on De-Flowered Virgins'

Why would one declare war on virgins? Virgins don't have any oil....
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 8:55 PM on October 15, 2002

'his rotund shape and excessive weight is at the 'optimum' for perfect vocals'

...that may be true. Nonetheless, aren't there other world-renowned, yet less portly, singers out there who might be as good or better a spokesperson for an anti-hunger campaign?

Steve_at_Linwood: maybe "Bill Clinton as spokesperson for the 'War on Promiscuity'" is a better analogy?
posted by blackholebrain at 9:02 PM on October 15, 2002

Steve, maybe the virgins tried to kill his daddy.
posted by tolkhan at 9:03 PM on October 15, 2002

haha
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 9:06 PM on October 15, 2002

...that may be true. Nonetheless, aren't there other world-renowned, yet less portly, singers out there who might be as good or better a spokesperson for an anti-hunger campaign?

Who, Celine Dion? I'm trying to think of big "world issue" musician-celebrities and I can only think of two:

Michael Jackson and Bono

Pavarotti couldn't hurt.

And Steve, you're forgetting that the Terrorists were promised 67 virgins in paradise. I'm starting a war on virginity right now.

*looks in mirror. cries.*
posted by Stan Chin at 9:12 PM on October 15, 2002

I have a colleague who sings in the opera and insists his rotund shape and excessive weight is at the 'optimum' for perfect vocals. He may just be shitting me though. Does anybody know if this is true?

My music teacher calls this phenomenon "avoirdupois." For the purposes of opera, there are many cases where additional weight gives additional resonance. However, it's not clear where the point of diminishing returns is reached, and for some people, the extra weight hurts breath control, which is also crucial. For example, the last time I saw Aretha Franklin sing, she could clearly not get through phrases of an intermediate length without having to take many extra breaths. And since she's a popular singer and uses amplification (and because her voice never lacked depth to begin with), if she got any additional resonance, it would not be apparent.

There are clearly many fine operatic singers who are not obese. On the other hand, I have known people who have lost resonance as they lost weight. So I don't think there's a simple answer to your question.
posted by anapestic at 9:19 PM on October 15, 2002

Ok, we all know Celine Dion doesn't really eat anything, and Michael Jackson isn't human. Of course, Bono knows what pot smells like... and pot makes people hungry... but that might actually be a bad thing for the war on hunger.

So who then?
posted by blackholebrain at 9:20 PM on October 15, 2002

Actually, Clinton sets an example of promiscuity, whereas Pavarotti certainly doesn't set an example of hunger. The only way the whole analogy thing would work is if Pavarotti was the spokesman for the war on obesity, or if Celine Dion was designated as the spokesperson for the war on hunger.
posted by taz at 10:15 PM on October 15, 2002

Bill Clinton as spokesperson for the 'War on Promiscuity'

is a better analogy when compared to:

Gene Simmons official spokesman for the 'War on De-Flowered Virgins'

which [I though] emphasized the ridiculousness of having Luciano Pavarotti be the poster boy for anti-hunger because:

• as Bill Clinton is promiscuous...
• and as Gene Simmons deflowers virgins...
• Pavarotti eats enough to starve a few kids everyday, so therefore he causes hunger

posted by blackholebrain at 10:36 PM on October 15, 2002

Aha! Now I get it - deflowered virgins against hunger, right? Just kidding. Anyway, I support any post that contains the word "deflowered".
posted by taz at 11:31 PM on October 15, 2002

The analogy seems like a reach to me. If Kate Moss was the spokesperson for this effort, people would find that ironic also because she's so thin. Obese people aren't the only Westerners eating a disproportionate share of the planet's food.
posted by rcade at 5:15 AM on October 16, 2002

Virgins don't have any oil....

But what about extra virgin olive oil?
posted by MrBaliHai at 6:21 AM on October 16, 2002

Am I understanding this correctly? Are people actually criticizing someone for making an effort to help someone else? I mean, which is better--an overweight man who is trying to do something about starvation, or an overweight man who is not making an effort to do something about starvation? This guy is as culpable for starvation in the world as you (as a gasoline consumer) are for the WTC attacks.
posted by troybob at 8:37 AM on October 16, 2002

"This guy is as culpable for starvation in the world as you (as a gasoline consumer) are for the WTC attacks."

Um... it's still ok to have a sense of humor, troybob... even after 9-11.
posted by blackholebrain at 8:48 AM on October 16, 2002

Wait, wait... this anti-hunger spokesman... you say he's fat?
posted by moss at 11:21 AM on October 16, 2002