It's Always Hilarious, Disturbing, Offensive and Sunny!

I have recently been caught in an "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" episode watching craze. Chris has been talking about the show and quoting it constantly since he first began watching it a few years ago. Due to his obvious obsession and cult following to the show, I had no desire to watch it because really, could it be really that good? I have this problem that if someone talks something up to the point where I am bombarded with the topic constantly, then I will completely shut it out and rebel against wanting to have anything to do with it. That's what happened with Harry Potter. Everyone thought these books and movies were the best thing since opium and cheese sandwiches, so I decided that there's no point to read/watch them because they would never live up to the reputation being built up, and up, and up! To make a long story short, I had no desire to watch It's Always Sunny because Chris was building it up so much.

But I ended up watching. And it's hilarious. And now I'm part way through season 7 and am caught between a rock and a hard place. Where to even begin?

If you have never watched the show, it's about these 5 people, aka "The Gang", who own a bar in South Philadelphia. They are mean, dishonest, incredibly selfish, greedy, egotistical, immature and all around horrible human beings who will stab anyone in the back who tries to get in their way to achieve success. And they yell. A lot. And always at and over one another. But the show is funny, clever, well written and the acting is really great. The writers of the show (who are also the actors) leave no stone unturned when it comes to pushing the limits of each plot of each episode. They have had episodes that poke fun of racism, abortion, mental challenged people,  alcoholism, patriotism, religion, child molestation, cancer, guns, drugs, setting people on fire, sodomy, transgender people, sleeping with each others moms, pooping in bed, kidnapping, staging your own death...and the list goes on. Like I said, anything goes with this show.

One of the actors who plays one of the main characters, Mac, decided that he would put on 50 pounds for this season since it pissed him off that in all TV shows the actors get more beautiful as time goes on. As shows become more successful, they make more money which means the actors get more money and better wardrobe, makeup and hair...not to mention extra pocket change for a little Botox here and there. He decided to break the mold and become less good-looking. Mac is probably my favourite character because he is so delusional about his athletic abilities and fighting skills and he cuts the sleeves off of all of his shirts because thinks he's so badass. So the rock and hard place I mentioned above has to do with the first episode of season 7. Mac has obviously gained a lot of weight, or "cultivating mass" as he likes to put it and the gang is worried about him so they send him to the doctor to get some tests done to prove that he is hurting his body by eating Mexican food around the clock. The doctor tells him that he has adult on-set type-2 diabetes and will have to start injecting himself with insulin to control this disease. I was horrified in a couple scenes later when Mac and Dennis are sitting in the bar eating mass amounts of chimichangas, talking about how they have to live life by doing whatever they want with no limitations and Mac keeps stabbing himself in his protruding belly to inject insulin. He even offers Dennis an injection.

Where to begin....my brain is just overloaded. I love the show and I love that anything goes. They will make fun of everything and anything, and in this case it's the perceived notion that not taking care of your body to the point in which you are diagnosed with a potentially life threatening disease can be brushed off with the idea that it is ok because a shot of insulin will handle the problem. Now I know that they are telling the world that we are stupid because so many people believe this and live like this by leading extremely unhealthy lifestyles. I just remember the horror in my gut as I watched the scene because every part of my nutrition background was heaving and rolling in pain. But, I couldn't get upset with the show since they finally did something that offended me personally. I'm sure that millions of people have been offended by that show but still watch it every week because it's highly entertaining, witty and speaks a little of the truth every now and then.

I suppose my rock and hard place was like this; could I be offended by a show that offends everyone but that I still love and support? Is the show supporting the idea that treating your body like complete and utter garbage is ok since there is medicine to keep you going? There are many dim-witted people out there who might look at the episode and laugh (like I did) but not get the real message behind the writing. I guess I just have to hope that the followers of It's Always Sunny have the intellect to read between the lines and know that they are mocking each and every one of us. At least I really, really, really hope so. Cause this show is great!