These 7 Anti-Fat Moments From TV Shows Released This Year Show How Far We Have To Go
Warning: discussion of anti-fat television moments ahead.
It's not news that Hollywood perpetuates harmful body ideals and beauty standards. Given the number of times the entertainment industry has been called out for its blatant anti-fat bias, one might assume that things will eventually get better. Well, those changes seem to be a distant, distant dream — at least that's what I felt after watching the following moments on TV this very year.
1.When Never Have I Ever made Eric — the only fat character on the show — the punchline of poorly-timed jokes.
Mindy Kaling's high-school drama, Never Have I Ever, deals with difficult topics like processing grief and trauma. While the show has gathered praise for its representation of the Asian American diaspora, it does little to nothing when it comes to addressing anti-fatness.
First of all, the show does not represent people with larger bodies. It is difficult to believe that a high school is full of thin or traditionally attractive people. Even if we were to look past this blatant lack of body diversity, the fact that the only fat character in the show, Eric, is made the butt of several unnecessary fat jokes cannot be looked past. Lack of representation is one thing. Creating an entire character just to make fun of fat people is all kinds of problematic.
2.When Hopper was tortured in prison for the better part of a year...but all other Stranger Things characters saw was how much weight he lost because of it.
Netflix / Via tenor.com
Pretty much from the beginning, there's been a lack of body diversity in the city of Hawkins. The recent season of the show, however, took the anti-fatness to a whole new level. Hopper's weight loss seems to be a source of celebration for everyone in the town — including his loved ones and even himself.
Before his weight loss in the most recent season, Hopper's weight has always been the center point of many poor fat jokes. But it is worth noting that this character did not lose weight to be aesthetically pleasing or to fit into society's traditional beauty standards. His weight loss is a result of extreme torture and violence inflicted upon him. He was beaten, starved, and tortured to submission... but hey, good for him, he lost weight!
3.When Sex And The City reboot And Just Like That... suggested a person's weight is a source of embarrassment.
While Sex And The City fans have mixed responses to And Just Like That..., the producers of the show have on multiple occasions mentioned that the reboot was an attempt to rectify the OG's problematic representation of various communities.
However, in the sixth episode, Carrie joined her friend Seema Patel for a Diwali celebration at her parents' home. It turns out that Seema had made up a boyfriend named Dennis to take some pressure off at family gatherings like this.
When Carrie meets her new friend's parents, Seema's mother suggests that there might be a reason why they haven't met Dennis yet. Seema's mother says to Carrie, "No one can be that busy. I'm beginning to wonder if she's embarrassed of her boyfriend. Or embarrassed of her parents. So, Carrie, tell. Is it him or us?"
When Carrie denies this, she asks, "What is it then? Is Dennis fat?" This suggestion on Seema's mother's end insinuates that a person's weight should be a reason for embarrassment.
4.When Bridgerton makes it a point to remind us that Penelope Featherington is undesirable in almost every episode.
Bridgerton tells the story of the English nobility during the Regency period. The show has people of different races as nobility. While the race inclusivity points to the fact that the show is not very concerned about historical accuracy, the show could have made use of one historical fact to its advantage.
Historians note that Regency nobility preferred fuller, fatter bodies as it was a sign of wealth and prosperity. The makers have ignored this fact and cater to the modern, beauty standards perpetuated by Hollywood. The fact that Bridgerton embraced historical inaccuracy to bring more modernity and racial diversity to the cast but conveniently chose to stick to outdated (in this case, historically inaccurate also) body standards definitely does not sit well with me.
The only fat character in the show, Penelope Featherington, is consistently framed as undesirable by her love interest, her family, and her peers. One particular scene that comes to mind is how after Penelope and Colin share a dance, she overhears him berating some friends for assuming he’d court Penelope at all. “Are you mad? I would never dream of courting Penelope Featherington. Not in your wildest fantasies,” he says.
5.When The Sandman makers decided to make Despair the only fat diety on the show.
Netflix's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's comic series, The Sandman, has been receiving praises for its representation. However, some fans are not happy with the anti-fat representation of the deity, Despair.
While many deities are hot, thin, and conventionally attractive, Despair is the only fat diety on screen. While Despair is fat in the comics, many other characters were updated for the live-action adaptation. Something about it just doesn't sit well with me.
6.When Love Is Blind highlighted Shake's ridiculous expectations and multiple contestant's previous weight losses.
At the beginning of the season, when the pods are open, we are introduced to two plus-size contestants, Cassidy and Hope, who we do not get to see again. All our main couples are traditionally attractive folks, but what was I expecting, right? I am bored of mentioning the lack of representation in mainstream entertainment as much as you are bored of reading about it. Therefore, let's move on to the more interesting and problematic details.
During the initial talking stages, we hear Abhishek, aka Shake, asking Hope if she worked out and when she replied that she was not a fan, he was immediately turned off by her. It is worth noting that neither is Shake a workout buff nor is he looking for a gym partner. To him, a woman saying that she works out directly translates to her being petite and by extension, attractive.
Throughout the season, the weight loss journey of Danielle and Deepti, both of whom had previously lost about '70 pounds' is revisited multiple times. The emphasis on the weight loss narrative of these women — combined with the criminal lack of inclusivity — is extremely unsettling overall.
7.When Uncoupled didn't get the memo that fat jokes aren't cool anymore.
The show is so fully riddled with anti-fat jokes that I had to recheck if it was actually released this year. Sadly, yes, this one is definitely a 2022 show. Every episode has at least one poorly timed and insensitive fat joke.
Two instances worth mentioning are when the show makes a joke about a man wearing a "ladies size 14" and when another character remarks that she's happy that she doesn't have sex with her "obese husband." How is this still acceptable in 2022?
Have you seen other examples on a TV show recently? Let me know in the comments below.
The National Eating Disorders Association helpline is 1-800-931-2237; for 24/7 crisis support, text “NEDA” to 741741.
