And now, on with the show! I’m very excited about the title, can I just say that? There will be singing! It’ll be just like Glee! Right?

The “previously ons” are extra exciting to me because I still haven’t seen the first two episodes so it’s ALL NEW INFORMATION. Will is wearing a cute owl shirt, and Will and Chris Sligh (whose name, I now know thanks to you guys, is Ian) have cute chemistry, and Gina Torres has food issues.

Who is Crying Shower Cap Girl? Did we see her last week?

“Can we skip the nightly ‘who’s fatter’ contest”? I continue to love Will.

Now there’s some backstory between Becca and Chloe (who I do not like). Oh, Amber was going to let Crying Shower Cap Girl into their talent show act, and Chloe rejected her. See, I was right about not liking her! She also said the more weight she lost last summer, the more people were jealous of her and disliked her. But we’ve seen her distancing herself from people (notably Crying Shower Cap Girl and her brother) not the other way around.

Gina Torres (Dr. somebody) seems so awkward standing up to talk in front of people. Why is she a camp director if she’s scared of all the kids? And Jillian Michaels continues to scare me. And Hot Buff Guy, whose name I have forgotten again, is charming. Was it George, or am I just thinking of George Clooney for some reason?

The kids are daydreaming about food whilst eating lowfat cheese popovers. Are they all going to be portrayed as junk food addicts? Hopefully not.

Jillian Michaels is named Shea. What are the odds I will actually remmeber this? And
she’s got it in for the dad/cook. I kinda don’t care about this plotline.

“Will’s the girl who likes basketball, right?”
“I have no idea what she likes, except being overweight. She loves that.”

Wow, way to care abut your campers, there, Gina Torres. “I have no idea what she likes”? And did you steal her journal, which is missing? DUH DUH DUUUUHHH.

A property line dispute. Whee. Scintillating. Bring on the talent show! TAL-ENT! TAL-ENT!

Oh my god, Chris Sligh is trying to write a song, and now he has found a journal! With lines of poetry in it that almost sound like… song lyrics!?

Yay, the owl shirt is back! I really want that owl shirt. Someone tell me where it comes from.

Chloe is mean to everyone who isn’t Trent. Boo. Hiss. (Not that she isn’t a prototypical Mean Girl, who probably only has the power to be a Mean Girl here at fat camp, but whatever.)

More about the property lizzzzzzzzzzz.

Will lost her journal and will die if anyone reads it. How about if someone takes it and turns it into song lyrics and performs them at the talent show? I mean, not that that’s gonna happen. But WHAT IF?

Property line dispute guy might have a thing for Gina Torreszzzzzzzzz.

Why is Amber so uncomfortable about that camera that they found in lost and found? And is the journal that Becca found really Will’s or is it someone else’s? So many questions!

Oh Becca, don’t read it. DON’T READ IT. It is a terrible idea.

She’s gonna read it.

She read it.

Will is now wearing a cute hat and playing ping pong with Ian. He should maybe tell her he ran across some potential lyrics in a journal, don’t you think? And also, Becca clearly did not enjoy whatever it was she read. I TOLD YOU SO, BECCA.

They’re watching fake More to Love and it’s called Love Handles! Okay, that’s hilarious.

Gina Torres is in some type of muffin-eating support group. I mean, that’s not a euphemism. Or… is it?

Is it OA? If so, why is everyone skinny? I mean, I didn’t freeze frame it or anything, but it looked like a bunch of skinny people.

That property line guy came over with some zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. THIS IS BORING, SHOW! How many times do I have to fake fall asleep before you psychically pick up on my boredom, go back in time, and make this more exciting? I liked it better when she had a Mysterious Romantic Past with the Rival Camp Director.

Amber is apparently played by Hayley Hasslehoff. Good for you, Hayley! I’m sorry your father is an alcoholic. That must be tough.

The camera plotline is now being resolved. It is Crying Shower Cap Girl’s camera. And she’s named Sierra? Maybe? And this is a whole lot of stupid drama about a camera when Amber could have just jumped in to say, “Oops, my bad, it’s not mine after all.” But instead, there is a whole dramatic scene with Chloe defending her.

Will and Ian are having a really nice moment. I’m sure nothing’s going to go wrong when he starts singing his song.

Gina Torres is giving an awkward speech about the origins of the word “talent” and property sign guy is listening. Why are you putting me to sleep at the talent show, plotline?

Poppy and Sierra. Poppy is the other adult, and has a ukelele. Sierra is playing the triangle.

Amber and Chloe are having a weird fight about the camera again. I’m interested in knowing what’s going on with Amber. And now they’re not on the stage, and Becca has to go up and dance. With that other guy, who is not Trent, singing. And that was very funny.

Now Trent is kissing Chloe on advice from George Clooney, even though he really likes Amber more. Well we all like Amber more! Then again, I don’t really care about Trent either. I’m all about Will and Ian.

Alastair seems to have some kind of thing for Trent. (Perhaps unconsciously so! Because we know sexuality is complex!) And now he’s turning the magic show into a comedy routine, and they’re laughing at him. And it’s cute.

Hahahaha Love Handles spoof! Hahahaha.

Ian sings the song! Finally. “This song is inspired by a poem I found. I don’t know who you are, but you’re out there somewhere, and you’re awesome.” Maybe Will won’t take it badly after all?

And, she ran out. Maybe she will. Maybe Will will. Her name is confusing me. It’s a good song, though.

Will Will come back? Will won’t!

Amber is poor and embarrassed by her poverty, and that was her motivation with the whole camera thing. But she seems genuinely happy for Chloe, that she got to make out with Trent. Because she’s sweet, that Amber.

Will and Ian are having it out about the journal. Noooooo. Don’t let this come between you, Will! NOooooooOOoooooOOOO! Okay, apparently I am more invested in this relationship than I thought.

And now it’s over! But next week, it looks there’s hope. And people are kissing, but I can’t tell who. Yay! See you guys here next week?

The previouslies tell me that Nikki Blonsky’s character is named Will, and there’s also a scene where Will proudly takes off her clothes and struts around in a bathing suit, refusing to be ashamed of her “before” body. She’s got legit fat-girl thighs, too. That’s awesome.

I love the Shiz T-shirt on that guy! I love me some musical theater geeks (since I am one). Oh! And it makes sense since Winnie Holzman is one of the creators of Huge and she wrote the book for the musical Wicked! And Shiz University is from Wicked! Okay. Moving on.

The opening credits are surprisingly deep, yearbook photos with labels like “the perfect body” and “invisible” and “fat is my armor.” Also “willpower,” but you can’t win ‘em all.

And speaking of geeks, there’s a LARPing plotline! That’s awesome. I love that the girl who vaguely resembles Mercedes from Glee is not the “sassy fat black girl” but is in fact a shy role-player. Mercedes II, I promise to learn your name at some point!

The Shiz T-shirt guy is named Alistair, and he’s gay. See me, learning things? Also they’re addressing the “smelly fat person” stereotype (and “fat geeks” stereotype too). Which, it occurs to me, is one of the potentially great things about this show–with such a large cast, and so much diversity, they can show all types of fat people–ones who overeat and ones who don’t, ones who are geeks and those who aren’t, athletes and non-athletes, introverts and extroverts… it’s not like in most shows, where if the one fat guy smells bad, it equates to “all fat people smell bad.”

Is this Chris Sligh-looking guy a love interest for Will? Is there a love triangle with the blonde girl? Is the blonde girl named Amber? So many questions.

“That’s my worst fear. That I smell bad and don’t know it.” Oh man. This plotline is breaking my heart.

Interesting scene, campers from another camp coming across Will with a bunch of fat kids. And some straight-up fat mockery. Aw, I already love the Camp Victory campers! I love Will and Chris Sligh and Mercedes II and Alastair! DON’T BE MEAN TO THEM.

Scary Jillian Michaels lady is kind of a B. Hot Buff Guy is Hot. Gina Torres was on Firefly and is awesome. So much for the adults!

Noooo Chris Sligh! Don’t pass Alastair’s showering problem off on Hot Buff Guy! Okay, he’s going to backtrack. Phew.

I love how Will is using her popularity and personality to sell the LARPing thing on behalf of Mercedes II. She’s a great character. Aw man, I only have good things to say about this show! I think I love this show, you guys!

The blonde girl has really pretty teeth. I mean she’s really pretty in general, but especially her teeth. Is that weird?

One of the guys is a football player. See, fat athletes! Plus, Alastair’s sister is doing situps so that’s kind of athletey too. I’m not really feeling Alastair’s sister so far. I like the idea that she’s distancing herself from her brother in a quest to be “in” with Amber, who is the popular girl, but… I’m not finding her sympathetic yet.

Oh, there’s a rivalry between Jillian Michaels and Gina Torres. I’m on Team Torres. Especially if she lets the campers eat s’mores.

Mercedes II is named Becca! Also she’s a fencer, apparently. That rocks. And now Will is teaching Becca how to punch dudes and… oh, poor Alastair looks so sad after getting hit with the water gun.

Hey it’s that guy! He’s was in Waiting for Guffman as the guy who was probed by aliens and finds he has no feelings in his buttocks.

Uh oh, Becca’s LARP universe is in trouble.

“I’m excited to lose weight! I think. I just can’t imagine… what it will be like. If it’ll… if it’ll actually change anything.”

Gina Torres has the hots for the rival camp director! And there’s… really no family resemblance between her and her dad. (Says Mo Pie, the adoptee.) Awkward phone conversation between Gina Torres and rival camp director. Is it too much to hope that rival camp director will be played by Alan Tudyk? Please?

Yes, love triangle between Chris Sligh and Will and Amber! Chris Sligh, Amber has pretty teeth and all, but Will is so clearly where it’s at.

So within the context of the LARP universe, Becca is able to stand up for herself to Will. Love that.

In addition to Amber’s teeth, I also love her feather T-shirt.

Oh, the cute asshole tennis guy thinks Amber is pretty! Oh, he also thinks she’s a tennis camper. I guess she’s fat but not *that* fat to be obviously a fat camper. Interesting. Also they like her top. Me too!

Becca is able to stand up for herself in character to the tennis people too! And the cute asshole tennis guy seems to have figured the whole Amber thing out but still, there’s a thing. Interesting.

The Hot Buff Guy told Alastair very nicely about the showering, and it turns out that he has issues taking a group shower. Well as he’s both a fat guy and a gay guy who seems like he has been teased a lot before, it makes perfect sense. Would he really be the only one, though? In a whole camp full of fat kids?

The rival camp director is not Alan Tudyk. Instead, he seems to be a little bit of a D.

Aw, Hot Buff Guy is going to protect Alastair and keep his secret! He’s nice! I hope Will has an affair with him! Maybe that is not the direction this is going? Also, his name is George.

“Who needs marshmallows when you’ve got…sticks.” Hee.

The takeaway is “stop attacking people and ourselves.” And Will refuses to surrender. Never give up, never surrender! And… that’s the end.

Well, I find this show and its cast and its writing to be pretty delightful. I’ll definitely be watching next week… I might even post about it, if there’s any interest. Did you see this episode? Do you know Chris Sligh’s actual name? Did I miss anything important in the first two episodes? Let me know your thoughts!

Huge is an upcoming ABC Family network television series based on [the] young-adult novel of the same name by Sasha Paley. The hour-long drama series revolves around seven teens sent to a summer weight-loss camp called Wellness Canyon. Savannah Dooley and Winnie Holzman (creator of My So-Called Life and scriptwriter for Wicked) wrote the pilot. The series has been described as Glee meets Ugly Betty.

Well, I haven’t read the young adult novel (anyone?) but my first thought is that’s quite a pedigree. The descriptions of the characters on Wikipedia are interesting too: there’s apparently a clique of “thinner” girls, indicating a pecking order based on weight. I’m hoping the emphasis will be on those interpersonal relationships rather than any kind of “transformations” ala The Biggest Loser. But I guess we’ll see on June 28, when the series premieres.

But has Huge been using Photoshop to make Nikki Blonsky look huger? That’s the question asked in an email from Eve C.:

While reading the July issue of O Magazine, I came across a print ad for the show. There is a picture of Ms Blonsky in a swimsuit, and damned if it doesn’t look as though the pic has been photo shopped in order to make Ms Blonsky look larger than she actually is. It’s bad enough that women are photo-shopped to be thinner, but I’d like to know the reasoning behind making the star of the show look bigger.

I’m unable to forward the pic to you in the email, but the ad is on page 39 of “O”, and I’m sure other magazines are running it.

I found the picture that Eve is writing about, and it appears at the top of the post. But here for comparison’s sake is a photo taken of Blonsky at the Young Hollywood Awards last month, next to the swimsuit photo. To me, honestly, they look pretty plausibly the same basic shape. What do you think? And are you planning to watch the show?

Who were these “flabulous” celebrities? Beyonce, Jessica Simpson, Britney, Kirstie Alley, and Snooki. I mean, seriously. Did you doubt they would all be women? Plus, they sent me some accompanying photos showing the offenses, and they all looked like this. Where’s the “love handles” on Beyonce? Not that there’s anything wrong with “love handles,” Jesus. At least they have a cute name.

2. Okay, here’s a link, and it’s a good one: the “obesity stigma” is not actually helpful. Well, no effing duh. Which is basically what The Well-Rounded Mama says:

I suppose I should be grateful that someone is taking time to disprove the kinds of lame claims that more stigma is needed, not less. On the flip side, though, is that while they are concerned about the negative effects of obesity stigma on fat people, the big concern is that this stigma gets in the way of obesity intervention efforts…

But at least they are saying something against obesity stigma and countering the usual nonsense out there. It just amazes me that some idiots can actually believe that obesity stigma is really an effective tool for health improvement.

3. Another good one: obesity ills are “a myth” according to an Ohio State University study, via Big Fat Blog.

“There is a myth going on. Our findings show being overweight is no different from being what we believe is a healthy weight and this is across a person’s entire lifespan. For college-age adults, this should help them realize that they don’t have to worry so much if they have a BMI of 27 or 28. Some young people with these BMIs feel like, ‘I’m going to have all these problems, I need to try 50 different diets.’ And what is all that stress and dieting doing to your body? Probably more damage than the extra 15 pounds is.”

4. I ran across a Listmania list on Amazon today called “Large-size heroines and more.” Leonard Nimoy, The Gossip, and Nikki Blonsky are all represented, as are some projects I’d never heard of, such as an anthology called Such A Pretty Face…

Each tale has a plus-sized heroine or hero, ranging from a mermaid to a fairy-tale princess.

As well as a guide for plus-sized brides, some Fat Studies readers, and a UK series called Fat Friends.

I can’t vouch for level of empowerment each thing on the list has–for instance, I know Queen Sized was problematic, and there’s a weight loss memoir on there from someone named Michelle McManus, who won Pop Idol in the UK–but there were enough interesting things listed that I figured I’d pass it along.

5. Finally, 340 (and counting) blogs have been added to the comprehensive Fierce Freethinking Fatties Feed, and there are sub-feeds like Fat Acceptance, Fatshion, and Political Allies. (And other sub-feeds that do allow diet talk, so click those with caution.) If you want to find some new reading material or to add your blog to one of those feeds, check it out. Thanks for the heads up, Shannon!

Actor Seth Rogen is struggling to accept his newly svelte figure – because he’s let down the legions of chubby men who looked up to him. The funnyman slimmed down to star in forthcoming comic book move The Green Hornet, and has to cope with strangers approaching him about his weight loss…

“I think for chubby guys, I was their guy so they were like, ‘I can be chubby. Seth Rogen’s chubby, so who cares.’ But now I’m not so chubby anymore. So now they’re like, ‘I have to lose weight.’ I’ve let them down. I’ve blatantly sold out. It’s only for money.”

I’ve talked a lot about female “fat icons,” but this did make me think about the guys, and who it is they look up to. We’ve got Beth Ditto and Queen Latifah and Nikki Blonsky; who are the fat icons for guys? Do guys even see it that way?

I don’t feel betrayed by Seth Rogan losing weight, really; number one he was never an icon for me, and number two it is “okay” for guys to be overweight, especially comedians (Jack Black, Ricky Gervais, Jim Belushi…) in a way that it is definitely not okay for women. What do you guys think—about Seth, about “selling out,” or about the size of male celebrities?

I was in Vegas this weekend, and at one point I think Weetabix said something drunkenly about Malan from Project Runway and Nikki Blonsky, but I didn’t really understand, as I was probably on the third pitcher of mojitos at that point. But I have Googled and checked Project Rungay and figured it out!

There was a fashion show on Bravo where some memorable designers from the show designed outfits for celebrities—one celeb/designer pair was Malan and Nikki; reportedly he was inspired to give her an Elizabeth Taylor quality. Fashion Sanity was inspired to present a list of lessons for designers, including:

3) We don’t have figure flaws to “camouflage”. We just have some body parts that are more perfect than others.

4) If you hear of a rule about what bigger people should NOT wear, throw it out of the window and throw away the key. We can and will wear horizontal stripes, large prints, high waisted skirts and pants AND skinny jeans. So MAKE everything you make for the skinny chicks for us. Just bigger.

6) We are fat. NOT OLD and not 60 and NOT BORING AND NOT SUBURBAN. Make us clothes as hip and cool and sexy and fun as the ones they make for skinny chicks.

8) We don’t care if something is “slimming” or not. Wanting something to be “slimming” is like making a black girl wear something that is “whitening” or making a gay man wear ill fitting jeans and a basketball jersey.

10) We are fashion savvy, creative and as a rule, WAY cooler than most skinny chicks. Make us clothes that fit our personalities and hearts.

Please note that I think old, suburban, and skinny people also deserve great fashion. Still, some good points! And check it out, size fourteens: you can even bid on Malan’s dress! And here is the fashion show where you can check out all the designs:

“I never knew I was fat until I got famous… Then I suddenly realised I was overweight. The papers can’t simply put ‘comedian Ricky Gervais’. They have to put ‘rotund comedian’ or ‘chubby fatster’.

“The other day, I was trying to keep fit by going jogging with my iPod, and the paparazzi leapt out a bush and got me. The headline the next day? ‘Ipodge.’ What can you do?”

Man, that bugs the hell out of me, too; certain celebrities often get some descriptive plus-sized adjective attached to them, even when it’s not relevant to the story. (I was Googling for examples and found this article where Nikki Blonsky not only escapes that fate, she gets referred to as “Golden Globe nominee” instead. She’s working on an album! Yay! Sorry, tangent.)

Anyway, Ricky Gervais pokes a lot of fun at his own weight in both The Office (him sucking in his gut for the benefit of the motivational speaker people) and Extras (oh god, the the girdle); in each case it’s not so much mocking the character’s weight, but his vanity. To sum up, Ricky Gervais is a genius. Wait, was that not the point I was supposed to be making here?

If you were making a “most beautiful” list, who would you put on it?

Feel free to discuss this story or anything else in the open thread! Regular posting will resume next week.

Don’t get me wrong, I certainly enjoy looking at pictures of, say, George Clooney and Iman. And it’s not as if there are a million Nikki Blonskys and Beth Dittos out there in the world. And yet… somehow I expected it to be less blatant. Because I’m super naive, I guess! Anyway, here are the pages I dog eared. Pretend we’re sitting together outside a coffee shop, sipping iced coffees, bitching about how annoying this magazine is.

Page 16: A photo of Jonah Hill jogging (before the “beautiful” section of the magazine starts, of course). Enjoy the sight of a fat person, because it’s basically the only one in this entire magazine.

Page 19-21: A three-page “bikini challenge” ad for anti-cellulite cream that is “the difference between worrying about cellulite and not having to” (because you used the cream and got rid of it). Let me save you five bucks, or however much this cream costs you: those aren’t your only two choices.

Page 69: Article about the issue’s cover girl, Kate Hudson. Definitely beautiful, no arguments there, but also blonde, blue-eyed, and slender. Also in this issue: Kristen Bell, Taylor Swift, Elizabeth Banks, Heidi and Lauren from The Hills, Carrie Underwood, Christina Applegate, Nicole Kidman, Jessica Simpson, Blake and Taylor from Gossip Girl, Sandra Lee, and Heather Locklear (among others). Hmm. Are you trying to tell us something, People?

Page 101: Queen Latifah! Oh wait, it’s a Jenny Craig ad. The premise of the ad is that your size isn’t important, you should just be a “size healthier” than you are now. Brilliant marketing, there, Jenny Craig. HEY WOMEN OF AMERICA! You are all exactly one size too big! Sorry!

Page 108: Sarah Silverman, talking about how Jimmy Kimmel grabs her “inner thigh fat” and says how much he likes it, even though she hates it. So there is one point in favor of this magazine, because that’s cute.

Page 110: An eye-catching ad for Curvation featuring a full-figured woman in lingerie and Christian Louboutins with some sexy ad copy. It is genuinely awesome and positive, and if we hadn’t seen Curvation founder Queen Latifah advertising Jenny Craig a few pages ago, this would be even better.

Page 154: Queen Latifah again, in the magazine this time, in a section about celebrities who have charitable causes. This is the only plus-sized person on the list of 100 beautiful people, and keep in mind, she was in a diet ad in the same magazine! I also feel compelled to note that she is wearing sequins.

Page 175: A chart showing “beauty at every age,” with 10 people each listed for the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. So that’s 40 people in this little sample size. They are all women. Jennifer Hudson is the only one even remotely plus-sized.

So what have we learned? That only women of color are plus-sized? That being blonde, blue-eyed and thin is the best way to be beautiful? That People is every bit as vapid as you thought it was? That you’re a size too big and have cellulite? That, if you’re overweight, you have a 99% chance of not being considered “beautiful”?

How about all of the above?