to tonight on "nightline," too fat to fly. a famous funnyman is zod give up his seat because of his size. he says he fit and launches an offensive of his own. it's kevin smith versus southwest airlines. upset, germs and the quest for perfect handwriting. for millions of americans, it's never good enough. tonight we go inside one woman's fight against obsessive compulsive disorder. and panda love. all that bamboo can be a libido

brain. see how the panda mating call is getting an artificial boost in tonight's sign of the times. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, martin bashir and cynthia mcfadden in new york city, this is "nightline," february 15th, 2010. good evening i'm i'm terry moran. we begin tonight with air travel and a controversy. are some people too big to fly. all this because of the famous and admitted by fat movie director kevin smith was removed from a southwest flight on the airlines eye assessment that he was too bag and posed a safety hazard. smith has gone on on the offensive and though the airline apologized, it stands by its policy.

yun u yungi de nies has the story. >> reporter: hes is known for qualify clerk" and "lent bob." but he is anything but silent of forced off a southwest airlines flight for being too fat. he ignited online using twit interhis weekst podcast to call an injustice of his portly adventure. >> i am fat. i am not fat enough to eject off a southwest airline flight simply for size. not yet, [ bleep ]. i'll tell you when i'm. >> reporter: it started saturday on a flight from oakland to burbank. he purchased two tickets because he likes the treax space.

that night he flew standby and a flight attendant told him to get off the plane and the tweets began. ar southwest air, i know i'm fat but was the captain justified throwing me off a flight for which i was already seated in it escalate wrd he boarded a new flight and said, look how fat i am on your plane. quick, throw me off. when he landed in burbank, he tweeted he was air lifted out while richard simmons super vised. southwest airline lines offered him an a 100 zlrs voucher. they said they had a customers of size policy for 25 years. they issued a statement says cramped seating is uncomfortable foother passengers and a timely exit from the aircraft in the an emergency might be

compromised. >> am i a terrorist? what is the safety issue? i keep asking later on, am i going to explode? >> reporter: his outrage calls for a southwest air lyles boycott. volda is an activist and says smith is a hero. >> it's good for fat people that he is speaking out and saying this is not acceptable treatment. >> reporter: i heard kevin smith compared to rose is a parks. do you they is an apt analogy? >> yes, in some sense. not equate the two, but in the sense that he spoke up about unfair treatment on public transportation. and i think that, you know, it is important that he brought the awareness. >> reporter: she says the seats flooed to get big interthe

airlines more tolerantolerant. >> you might have someone who is very tall whose legs will have someone pushing to your legs. you might have someone with a baby who is crying. they shouldn't be pushed off the airlines either. >> you used to be able to count on the 18-inch rule. >> reporter: mimi roth says southwest did everything right. >> what we are seeing now is the oversized passengers expecting special treatment. having a sense of entime-outment. and here is a reality. more than nine times outf ten, obesity is a result of habitual improper reading. this isn't because he overate at the super bowl party or thanksgiving. he day or day or year after year

has been eating improperly. >> reporter: we showed both this photograph of an obese man a few month guys. >> when you see this image, what goes through your mind? >> it makes me feel bad for that person. it was embarrassing for them. >> imagine if captain sully had to deal with several obese passengers blocking isles and row. the miracle on the hudson may not have turned out the way it is. >> reporter: this is an emotional issue. >> so are plane crashes. and people taking money out of their pockets because people have improper eating habits. you have a right to the lifestyle you chose but not to this lifestyle.

>> reporter: like it or not, fat people aren't going away. >> within three to five years, 93% of dieters gain back all the weight plus. >> reporter: there you fly southwest again? nonchts, i won't. i won't. >> reporter: smith says neither will he. southwest hasn't heard the last of this plus sized passenger. >> how dare you. you want to embarrass me, guess what. you're embarrassed now a big, bad way. vin smith says he will not sue southwest but challenged them in to seating to see who is the in the right. win we come back, we turn to a psychological disorder. millions of americans suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder. how it works and the tactics to

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the courses you need, available on your schedule, anytime, anywhere. great moments begin at the graduate school. learn more. visit... ks for your help. condition that makes daily life deeply challenging forillions of americans, obsessive compulsive disorder, ocd. it's manifested in a variety of ways from perfectionist tendencies to on life-crippling pair nay yo. we have won women's path. >> reporter: a friday morning away from home for a conference

and fay lang takes a minute for what whe describes -- >> the most difficult part of my day, getting ready. >> reporter: the part where she washes up. >> i go through a lot, a lot of soap. >> reporter: because it's never just a minute. first it's her hands. and then it's the faucet. and because cleaning the faucet means she just touched it, it's her hands again. and then it's her face and then her hair brush which she goes at with extreme thoroughness. >> i like to get in between the bristles as best i can. i take them by rows. >> reporter: after the hair brush, her jewelry. and after 20 minutes ofhe generals that could be there, he arms herself for the world outside with a massive sup ply

of purell. >> refill it here. >> reporter: the name is ocd, obsessive compulsive disorder interfay has it. >> ocd can control basically everything you do. >> reporter: did that happen to new. >> i think i say id took up 85% of my day. >> made it. done with that. >> reporter: but it's never ally done. there is still that doorknob between her and the conference doing tears. >> avoiding touching doorknobs is somebody else. >> reporter: wife in hand, he makes it through toch to the obsessive compulsive foundation. >> i find the need to write things down perfectly. a three-day session in minneapolis of workshops and lectures. >> i have to check under the bed a certain number of times to get the fear away.

>> reporter: where ocd, the fourth most common mental illness -- >> ipend 45 minutes to an hour in the shower. >> reporter: is treated like an adventure. literally, this man in an indiana jones hat leading them on a make believe camping trip through the halls of the hiyyat. he is an authority on ocd. >> it's a biological disorder interbasically the person is going to have obsessions. obsessions are what they are afraid of. >> remember fay and the doorknob? it's every doorknob she ever encounters. >> is possibly thousands of people touching them and who know what is diseases they have. >> reporter: you know that most of us probably most of the time aren't getting sick from them. do you know that?

>> yeah. i -- deep down i do realize there probably isn't that big of a risk. but still the fear is there. >> reporter: we shock hands when we met. did you want to wash your hands when we shook. i won't be insulted if the answer is yes? >> props? >> reporter: promise. >> yes. and i'm wants to use the hand sanitizer next me. >> reporter: it can be any thought that makes you nervous and won't go away. >> are the doors locked? is the water running. and there are students who want to do their work perfectly. >> reporter: which sounds like a good thing. >> and then you have a paper their you never finish because it's not perfect. theories about this and that is what is behind the virtual

camping trip where he experiences exposure. >> what you are afraid of? let's come in contact with it. >> reporter: do touch it? >> right. >> it's a shortened version of a real camping trip where he leads them to exposures of their own fears. kicking the tires of cars for people that will afraid they will damage property. and there's a session for people obsessed with the fear they will commit murder, exposing them to an opportunity to do so, showing them they don't want to really kill anyone. for fay, the big challenge is going to be the outboor part of it. because just imagine the germs. and then dr. gracen coming up with a shocker. flack back. remember the purell she carries? catch this? is there anybody who with

contamination problems with a bottle of purell? you don't have to do this. you don't have to get better either. >> the doctor just took amy my hand sanitizer. i'm feeling nervous now. >> reporter: next step, shake hands with a homeless man. >> so my question is, how do you feel about dumpsters. >> reporter: yes, dumpsters, the symbol of everything filthy, and here they are asked to touch garbage. and fay, she steps up. >> come on, you can do it. good job. >>y heart was racing and all i could think about was the possibilities of the horrible things that could happen. >> come closer, very close. >> reporter: afterwards a group hug, a chance for germs to pass from person to person.

and then a pep talk of locker room dwaulty. >> remember how much is stole from you. how many times you have been humiliated because of your ocd. how many times something you wanted to go to and didn't get to go. how many times you wanted to be in a relationship and your ocd stood in the way. that if you have family or loved ones, how many times you -- no offense -- tortured them. >> what do you mean? >> you yell at them. you are beginning to take your life back. >> i don't wleab he said. just how much the disease has stolen from us. i don't know. it got emotional and a few tears. it was emotional for me. >> reporter: that was five months ago now.

fay kept in touch with you and i paid i visit the other day. i had. good to see you. >> likewise. >> reporter: she is really into guitar as you can see. >> i have been able to shorten my hand washing ritual. >> reporter: he routine is dn to five minutes noun from 20 minutes. we went out so she could show me something. there is a door handle. the past, what would you have done? >> i would have used the cuff of my coat or a wife. >> reporter: anything but directly touching something. and it's natural state. okay, so go ahead. there she goes. >> and that is progress. she did it. ocd is never really cured because watch this. the management placed a bolt of

purell near the register, and look at this move -- i saw that. >> someone else cease stash. >> reporter: did it be manage sod she can go out like this. and at the doorstep, she shook my sbhand said this time, it was fine. and i believe her. i'm john van dunn for "nightline." >> the moment to moment challenge. when when come back, we turn to an endangered animal. wait until you see how scientists are putting the lazy panda in the mood. [ male announcer ] every business day, bank of america lends nearly $3 billion dollars to individuals, institutions, schools, organizations and businesses in every corner of the economy. ♪

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population is endangered largely because the males often prefer eating to mating. so some researchers are using ways to encourage that loving feeling. and it's a sign of the times. >> hey. >> reporter: to be a panda. 16 hours a day eating, 8 hours addai sleeping, no time moving notch be sfwat clumsy and worshipped and adored. it truly seems an enviable existence. but once a year, it gets complicated. when for a period of just 48 hours, the future of the species

weighs heavily on every male panda's shoulders. it's a crucial time. it's mating time. and that's where the problems begin. it seems most male pandas would rather lie around and chew bamboo than stand up and get busy. >> the feel 345i8s don't like the male's personality, they won't mate. that's the biggest reason why in captivity is mating difficult. >> reporter: that might sound reasonable for you and me, but it's a big problem. this sman at regeneral at the giant panda breed manage thach introduced a number of measures to cure the panda of his woefully low lib bead da. >> it's no so long, sometimes

several minutes. the shortest may be 30 seconds. >> reporter: so far, one method is particularly effective. that's right, turn down the rights and turn up the tv. it's time for panda porn. pandas can enjoy the sights and sounds of panda love making in their own cage. >> panda porn shows the interests of the may male but we are sure the sown of the video will stimulate the male's interest. >> reporter: combine porn watching with the sexercises and the occasional menage a trois. and he says 60% of pandas are capable of having sex on their own up.

up from years ago. while the idea may not be appealing to everyone, there is no doubt the results are totally adorable. and so sometimes pretty feisty too. ow! in recent years, record numbers of panda cubs have been born a result with improved artificial insemination efforts. there are 294 pandas in captivity. with 300, they will be able to ensure the survival of the species. will you release thome to the wild? is that the plan? >> part of the plan. >> reporter: the mission for scientists is clear. inspire the pandas to do less of this and this, and a little bit more of this.

for "nightline," i'm clarissa ward for "nightline." here is jimmy [ female announcer ] why is travel these days

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