"Fatsploitation" Television?
Namely, Dance Your Ass Off and More To Love. I haven’t seen any episodes of either show (I have Drop Dead Diva on my DVR and plan to watch and post about that soon), but I know they are airing and would love to know the verdict, according to you guys.
When we first heard about More to Love, meerkat said:
I expect that many of the women will eliminated for infuriating and anti-feminist reasons (if this works on the reality show model of eliminating a competitor every week). And I wonder how wide a range of body types there will be? And if there is a wide range, will the less-conventionally-attractive ones have a snowball’s chance in Hell?
And in our discussion of Dance Your Ass Off based on the previews, Bethany said:
On one hand, I love that there are fat people in hot, tight dance outfits shaking their groove thang for all to see. At least some of them seem to be sexy and talented and comfortable in their own skin. But at the same time…with all that focus on weight loss it takes it into “Biggest Loser†land where the bottom line is always losing pounds. And that’s an oppressive message.
It’s like with one side of their mouth they want to empower fat people to enjoy embodiment as they are, and with the other side of their mouth they want to make sure they know they will never fully be acceptable until they can lose the weight.
The Fatistician railed against the weight loss component of the show (there is a clip there also):
So essentially, no matter how well you dance, if you don’t lose weight you won’t win. Let’s totally ignore the fact that you’re working out constantly and potentially gaining muscle which weighs more than fat. But if you don’t lose lose lose you’re just LAZY. Nothing beats starving yourself while simultaneously working your ass off and causing injuries Healthy Weight Loss UR Doin it WRNG.
I also can’t decide if they think fatties are HILARIOUS or pathetic victims of their own gluttony, or really, anything? I mean, I guess I will never know because I will not be watching this show. (If I could get Oxygen taken off my cable, I would.)
It’s also been described as a new wave of “fatsploitation” television:
The appetite for “fatsploitation” entertainment isn’t yet sated. Earlier this month in the US, a new sitcom, Drop Dead Diva took the controversial step of casting a US size 16 (UK size 18) actress in the lead role. The series, in which skinny model Deb dies in a car crash and is reincarnated as plus-sized Jane, drew record audiences and has been applauded for showing a larger woman in the main role. Rosie O’Donnell, Liza Minnelli and Paula Abdul have signed up for guest appearances and the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times gave it rave reviews.
Earlier in the summer, reality shows More to Love (a plumper version of The Bachelor) and Dance Your Ass Off (a super-size Dancing With the Stars) were also hits. Although Drop Dead Diva goes some way to redressing the fat phobia balance, it still employs stereotypes to explain Jane’s obesity. The character drools over doughnuts and in a moment of despair, finds solace in a mouthful of squirty cream cheese straight from the can.
Well I’ll watch out for the donuts and cream cheese on Drop Dead Diva, and report back. In the meantime, are you watching More to Love or Dance Your Ass Off? What do you think?
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Dance Your Ass Off, Drop Dead Diva, Fat Positive, Fatism, Media, More To Love
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I refuse to watch DYAO for the reasons mentioned. If those fat people can dance like that at their size, why should they bother losing weight. I don’t like dating shows in general, but my husband particularly hates the promos for More to Love. The interviews of some of the women crying because they don’t think they’re lovable and are looking for a miracle are pathetic. It would be cutting edge if a large confident woman were the bachelorette, with a variety of sized men to choose from.
I just watched the first episode of Drop Dead Diva and there are some cute moments. It’s nice to see a young white woman of some size (size 16? puh-peeze! that’s normal in the real world!) in a lead role. She’s adorable and a good actress. She’s like Camryn Manheim with a makeover. There’s still an emphasis on looks being important and fashion being essential to be taken seriously. It’s like Hollywood saying, “Look, we’re being, like , all sensitive and stuff.” At least they’re trying. I guess.
I think Drop Dead Diva could turn out to be a good show. They do have some stereotypes, such as fat being caused by overeating, but it seems like it could be a positive show.
I’ve never even seen a comercial for More to Love and probably would have never heard of it if it hadn’t been mentioned here. Dance Your Ass Off though… there isn’t as much selfhatred as the Biggest Loser, some of the contestants seem comfotable and fine at their current weight, so just like TBL it’s probably really about winning the money. I like to watch the dancing but the weight loss portion ruins it.
I’ve been watching “Dance Your Ass Off” and I really enjoy it. I do like that they have body-hugging dance costumes, and several contestants love their bodies. However, the last episode had a couple of them dieting to extremes (one girl was consuming 950 calories per day) and exercising for hours and hours every day. Since they didn’t lose weight, they were eliminated. And they were great dancers! I have low hopes for “More to Love” since it’s on Fox, and I haven’t seen “Drop Dead Diva” because I’m afraid I’ll be smacked over the head with cliches all the time.
There’s also apparently a UK show called “Fat Friends” which is either new or fairly recent. I’ve heard mixed things about it but haven’t gotten up the nerve to actually sit through an episode yet. The news we get from our friends about attitudes towards fat people in the UK is scary enough for me, without steeping myself in British fatsploitation culture.
(Someone will come along and set me straight about this show, please be aware I find out about these shows without any real sense of context as to when they aired. Ah, the suck of international licensing.)
I saw a short promo of More to Love. I remember a gorgeous blonde woman in red snuggling with the bachelor, who was also handsome. Neither looked deathfat.
I think Dance Your Ass Off would be a lot better if it wasn’t about weight loss. Why they couldn’t have done it as a simple Dancing With the Stars competition without the Biggest Loser-type nonsense is beyond me, but I guess if they didn’t make it a weight loss competition, Oxygen would have been accused of “promoting obesity.”
I got curious and went to watch Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime’s website (since I don’t have cable, boo). The first episode was mostly OK. The second, though? I don’t like the characterization of Jane as a lonely, insecure, plate and snow-globe collecting loser even if she IS a smart lawyer. Why does that have to be the way she was? And the constant insistence from Deb-in-Jane’s-body that this ISN’T her life, even though it currently most certainly IS her life? Annoying. And… her friend put her on a diet, so she’s turned into an “OMG do you know how many calories are in that donut”-spouting walking stereotype.
I would say there’s hope in the fact that at least Deb is trying to make some headway in terms of her self-confidence and whatnot, but with the constant reminder that this is NOT Jane…? Yeah.
I don’t like the characterization of Jane as a lonely, insecure, plate and snow-globe collecting loser even if she IS a smart lawyer.
Shell – that was making me nuts too. It would’ve been awesome if Jane had been a single fat woman who already ate well and worked out and had an apartment as awesome as her car, or at the very least had not been quite this pathetic. I mean, she has no friends, apparently, other than her assistant.
I’ll keep watching the show to see how they deal with things like the fact that Jane is not magically going to become thin enough for Deb. If they address the fact that diets don’t work, I will forgive them a lot of things.
DRST
I think rather than wanting shows that are all about fat people I’d rather shows incorporate more diverse people into them. I hate shows that are just for black people or fat people or whatever, the goal is to try to make things more diverse, not segregated.
I really actually love Drop Dead Diva, despite the stereotypes it promotes and the fact that poor fat Jane apparently had no life before skinny Deb took over. (She bought a Porsche but never even put the top down? Sorry, I’m a convertible driving fatty and I never put the top UP, no matter the weather!)
I’m not bothered by the overeating though. I am 100% on the FA bandwagon, and I know fat can be caused by many things, but the knee jerk negative reaction to depictions of fat people in TV or movies who overeat ignores the fact that plenty of fat people DO overeat. I am one of them!
Granted, even when I ate healthfully and worked out a lot more than I do now, I was not thin, that’s just not my genes. But my current size 24 is absolutely caused by the fact that I’ve been avoiding exercise and eating WAY too much for the last year or so. So, maybe the Jane character is supposed to be like me–she eats when she’s stressed, struggles with massive cravings all the time (I tend to drool over donuts too, what can I say), and has a tendency to binge. There’s nothing wrong with it.
Actually, I am sometimes put off by comments on some FA blogs that are always offended by implications in the media that overeating causes fat. Sometimes…it just does, doesn’t it? I know it’s not the ONLY cause, but our tendency to fly off the handle about it sometimes makes me feel ashamed that I am one of those “bad fatties” who really DOES eat an entire pint of ice cream in one sitting, or an entire pizza, etc.
I would never, however, eat squirt cheese straight from the can. Ew…everyone knows it requires wheat thins! ;-)
Oh, and when I say “there’s nothing wrong with it,” I am not saying that I”m not aware that my eating is disordered….I obviously struggle with bingeing issues that I have yet to deal with. I just meant there’s nothing wrong (in my opinion) with portraying those very real issues in a TV show….especially one that has a chance to be so fat positive!
I watched one episode of “Dance Your Ass Off” one late night when I couldn’t sleep. I enjoyed the “hey, there’s real people on the TV!” part of it. And the “Wow, some of these people are really talented and their size isn’t stopping them!” part of it (‘coss, really, there ain’t no reason why only skinny chicks should be on TV). But the “OMG, what a horrible outfit!” was just…. Ugh. I understand the principle of putting the contestants in teeny tiny clothing that shows off all their bits and pieces… But at least I’d have insisted that they be put in something FLATTERING (no need to cover it all up, but PLEASE make it look good). And the whole weight loss thing bugged me too. The night I watched it, they were dinging one of the smallest girls on the show for losing the least. As you pointed out, who knows if she’s gaining muscle (as anyone who’s decided to work out consistently can tell you happens) or her body is simply hanging on to water weight or… The whole focus was off, to me… It should have been on overall health and “hey, these plus-sized people are rockin’ it!” rather than weight loss and “my life will be so much better when I am thiiiiiin!!!”
As for “More to Love”, I hate those type of shows. But I will say that it caught my hubby’s eye. As hubby is (obviously) married to a plus-sized gal (and he’s a size Small… so we’re definitely a pair!), he thinks girls with curves are pretty awesome… He saw the ad for More to Love and remarked “That’s so great! Some of those girls are really gorgeous!!!” and started to talk about how it was excellent to have bigger girls on TV because they were beautiful too. I agreed, but pointed out that it was a totally segregated show – ABOUT how bigger girls COULD be beautiful too. And the drama of being bigger. And the exploitation factor. My poor hubby….
Anyway, he still thought it was a step in the right direction, even though it’s grating me.
Sarah, I am TOTALLY with you on that point.
In fact , before I got to your comment, I was reading the others and I had the same impression and was going to mention it but you beat me to the punch. I have PCOS and have for years and I also come from a big family, so I will never be tiny, but my recent jump to a 24 from my usual 18-20 is completely because of overeating and lack of quality exercise.
What about people like us, with disordered eating ( I am also a binger and an emotional eater ) who really are fat(ter) because of overeating?
It is a bit disheartening to belong to the “bad fattie” group.
I think that issue is absolutely worth a post all its own; thanks for your thoughts, guys.
I’m worried about the fat hatred fallout that may occur as a result of these shows, especially with more to love. I know there are going to be people out there who think the people on that show aren’t being properly shamed and don’t deserve love/relationships because of the way the look. However, I must confess that the girls on More To Love are gorgeous, and I want to know where they got their dresses! Every time I see the commerical, I see a new dress I want.
I have fallen in love with Drop Dead Diva!!! I think it’s a great way to show all sides of the size story. The fat girl who wasn’t popular (Jane). The skinny girl who thought the world revolved around her (Deb). The skinny girl who realizes that she is stereotyped for her blonde hair and “”barbie” like figure (the best friend). And of course, the enlightenment of Deb in Jane’s body as she deals with her clients and tries to find her way in her new life.
It is a great way to fill my Desp. Housewives void on Sundays!