I do not understand the comments made on the pod about Dodgeball. Ben Stiller is the villain. Of course makes jokes in bad taste. That’s why he’s the villain. It’s not “the movie’s fault.” The underlying message of the good guys is explicitly, “come to the gym, we accept you no matter what.”
Speaking for myself, I have no problem with a villain in a film having an unsavory worldview, and in fact wish more villains did, but the fat suit jokes in DODGEBALL, and lots of comedies from that era, that use larger bodies as a disgusting sight gag, have not aged well.
I still think the movie is largely hilarious, and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying it, as I do, but honestly even twenty years ago that final fat suit bit rubbed me the wrong way.
OK, I guess I get that specific concern, although I always took the fat suit at the very end to be a karmic payback for the character (his worst fear realized) rather than inherently something “bad” that happened to him. And I say this as a “person of size” myself. Fair enough!