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Related Pieces
Piece Description
By the time Rocky Tayeh was a senior in high school, he weighed more than 500 pounds. Pressures to lose weight - something he felt utterly incapable of doing led him to have a weight loss (lap band) surgery just two months before his graduation. Like thousands of Americans, Rocky has lost a lot of weight -- 200 pounds in one year -- due to the lap band surgery. Yet while those numbers make it seem like a quick fix, choosing and living with weight loss surgery can be anything but. Rocky is not alone in struggling with life after weight loss surgery, and his story provides an intimate inside look into his continuing fight to 'say goodbye to food.'
4 Comments
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Review of Saying Good Bye To FoodThis story was a grand display of human emotion. It tells a tale of how obesity is a major problem, and how one guy made his own decisions to prevent another death from obesity. What really worked was when your family told you that exercise and eating healthier was something you HAD to do, while the doctor on the talk show said it was nigh impossible. It told the world how the main solution to a big problem wasn't exactly the answer, dedication or not. Music or not, I thought the piece still functioned well. Your narration was well done, and the inclusion of the everday conversations worked. Although they didn't come across as totally natural, but that is something that happens when someone has a mic join in the conversation. All in all, a great piece, and I thought it was professionally done. Bravo. |
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Review of Saying Good Bye To FoodImagine you are a teen and grossly overweight ?by over 300 pounds. You go on TV to tell your story. Radio Rookie Rocky Tayeh doesn?t have to imagine anything. In real life he gained and gained and finally lost. How is the the subject of this ten-minute segment from WNYC?s Radio Rookies. (It's apparently the second by Rocky on the subject.) Rocky is a good narrator, present without being overbearing. He?s a good writer too, and he patiently builds his narrative. The first part of the segment bumps diary, clips, and ambiance against Rocky?s voice. Though we don?t know WHY he?s eating, we do feel the fast-track anxiety and embarrassment that fuels it. There?s tension in Rocky?s family too. Dad says diet and exercise will cure Rocky?s problem. Mom doesn?t think so. She and Rocky head to the hospital for a surgery that puts a ?lapband? on her son?s stomach. Afterwards, Rocky can't eat much or he gets sick. And he does, over and over. Finally, he changes his eating habits forever ? drinking Starbuck?s Pumpkin Lattes down 200 pounds. Rocky has recorded himself getting sick, and getting clear. It?s great stuff, well recorded, as is all the material here. Rocky?s story ends with a predictable interlude ? one of his ?girlfriends? tells him he?s still the same guy with or without his poundage. But here's a twist: Rocky doesn?t agree. He hopes kids who hear his story will realize that being lighter improves self-esteem and energy. Rocky admits he still wants to know WHY he ate so much. But even absentt this insight, the piece is a keen look at how one kid fought the fat and won. Some may object to HOW Rocky did so. But that could make for a great discussion. (The New York Times recently reported young MEN now get breast reduction therapy.) This might also be a good backgrounder link on a web buildout. Anthea Raymond
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Broadcast History
WNYC - March 31, 2007 (Morning Edition)
NPR - April 10, 2007 (ATC)
Transcript
ROCKY (Narration): When I was eleven years old, I made a promise I couldn?t keep. I was on vacation at my uncle?s house. And after a fun day of swimming with my shirt on, of course, I went into the bathroom and nervously stepped on the scale: 200 pounds. So I swore to Allah, something you?re not supposed to do in the bathroom that I wouldn?t get any fatter. But I could never slam the door on food ? my comfort for life, my best friend in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.
SISTER: You have a choice to lose weight! Just now you ate a pint of ice cream, is that necessary?
ROCKY: I ate a pint of ice cream
SISTER: You ate a pint of ice cream, strawberry ice cream!
ROCKY (Narration): That?s my twin sister and me. I recorded it when I was 15 for my first radio story.
SISTER: Yesterday you ate three bowls of cereal.
ROCKY: It wasn?t strawberry ice cream it wa...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
NOTE: IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE THIS, YOU MUST EMAIL RADIO ROOKIES AT RADIOROOKIES@WNYC.ORG.
HOST INTRO:
Samr "Rocky" Tayeh first went on the radio three years ago and told listeners about his ?Struggle with Obesity?. Rocky?s concerned mother, teasing sister, and his own self-loathing and dreams of being thin all let listeners inside of his world. A lot has changed for Rocky since he first went on the air. He?s 19 and a freshman in college (2007). And a year ago he underwent weight loss surgery.
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Joshua McNichols
Posted on December 10, 2007 at 07:21 AM | Permalink
Review of Saying Good Bye To Food
Nothing is held back in this piece. The narrator has the self-esteem to invite us into a very personal, vulnerable space, and I felt rewarded by that experience.
This could fit in a "This American Life" type show, or any type of show dealing with health, economics (as obesity is sometimes an economic problem), or even a literary content.