You have a point there SP ... it does seem to be the case that models and actors get thinner and thinner whilst we, as a nation, get fatter.
Is it just our perception? I don't think so ... I watched an old 'carry on' film the other day and the women on there that got the 'phwoaaars' (very un-PC!) were at least a size 14 and would have been branded as 'fat' by today's standards. There doesn't seem to be a wild difference in the images women saw on the screen and the average size on the streets. The main difference that picked the actresses out as 'wow' seems to be their pretty faces, 'hoist 'em up' bras and peroxide blonde hair.
Now, as we're being shown thinner and thinner models whilst we're all getting fatter, we're becoming more and more alienated to what is considered 'normal' ... we simply can't attain it. Women in the 50s could emulate the 'starlet' look by simply wearing a decent 'foundation garment', whacking some peroxide on her hair and slapping on a bit of red lipstick. Nowadays, we'd have to diet ourselves down to skeletal proportions and have some cheek implants put in.
America started it all off I think (and we import so much from the US - including their increasing obesity levels). Take Baywatch. Do you know that the film crew used to go round the beach clearing all the fatties off before filming started?
It wouldn't do to show the grim reality of the fattest nation on Earth in swimwear would it? According to Baywatch, EVERYONE on America's beaches are slim, toned and beautiful. In fact, according to the vast majority of US programmes, the whole of the nation are slim, toned and beautiful (you only have to take a quick look at the audience on the Ricky Lake show to see how untrue that is)
Maybe people just don't want the horrible truth staring out at them from their TV screen - maybe that's how we escape from the reality of obesity.
wow - now I'm getting 'deep'! lol