Okay, I watch this show obsessively every season. I love seeing the transitions, the improvements and how far they can go from these terribly overweight people (whom I am one of) to these much healthier, thinner, happier beings. I can relate so much to many of them and admire their courage to show the world something they likely rarely look at in the mirror themselves.
This season, there are two men from Tonga on the show. When the first episode aired, Jay said, "I bet they're LDS" - translation for my non-member friends: Mormon. I said maybe, but they might not be. Just being Tongan doesn't mean you're LDS, though the island is small and mostly LDS. Then the episode where they got letters from home came on and in the Tongan's letters from their wives, both said, "eternal wife" or "eternal companion" and we knew. I high-fived Jay for being right - though it had been becoming more and more obvious by their behaviors (and one of them was hanging upside down and the leg of his garment peeked out one episode). Anyway, we already loved the two of them and that sealed the deal. Just because you know their morals, there is a comfort level, a knowing that they understand and agree with your religious views. I don't know how else to explain it. That's not to say that you don't have friends that give that to you and are not members - I do. And it's not to say that there are no bad or inappropriate Mormons out there - sadly, there are. And it's not to say that I don't slip up now and then and not live up to the promises or expectations I have made or should keep.
I think we fell in love with the Polynesian people when we became friends with Kanoe and Mark. Kanoe is Hawaiian and we love their family like they are part of ours. When they moved to Texas, it was really hard to see them go because we'd spent every weekend at their house or they at ours. Their son was like a sibling to Rachel and we still miss them very much. We learned a lot about their culture. We miss saying Aloha at church when they got up to talk and said it first. Then the movie, The Other Side Of Heaven, came out. It's based in Tonga and is a moving, wonderful true story and we fell in love with Tonga. My brother lived in Hawaii for several years and we learned even more about Polynesian culture. They are an easy people to love. Anyway, with all that background, we automatically loved the two Tongans on Biggest Loser.
Today I watched a YouTube video of the Maori Haka, which is actually derived from the New Zealand Maori but the Polynesians have similar dances and the two Biggest Loser Tongans have taken the stance - knees bent, legs apart, arms bent in front of them and, the best part, tongues out. It looks scary. It's meant to as the dance is a war dance. Now I've read that soccer teams are doing the dance before games to incite fear in their opponents:
Here's a lighter look at the dance that cracked me up. It's a commercial in New Zealand:
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