Fat people are, in general, not portrayed positively on television. Not positively at all. Garish, buffoons, butt of jokes, ostracised, marginalised and bullied, are just a few words that come to mind when I think about fat characters I have seen in movies and on tv. Sadly, as this is often the way fat people are treated in real life, I guess we should not be really surprised at the portrayal.
It will be interesting to see if this changes at all when the new ABC family show Huge airs in the USA on Monday. This is the first known show to air on tv where every lead character is plus sized. The shows centres on the lives of teenage boys and girls who are spending the summer at a weight loss camp, clearly indicating that either they, or at very least their parents, have an issue with their size and believe something needs to be done about it.
I will openly admit this has me somewhat concerned. A weight loss camp by nature will mean there is going to be alot of talk about diets, calories, weight and weight loss – all of which are topics that can infiltrate the minds of impressionable young viewers in a way that can promote dangerous dieting behaviours. There is also of course the issue that by attending a weight loss camp the strong message is given that there is something wrong with these young people. Is this something ‘wrong’ going to be a serious health issue (and is a camp situation the best place to deal with that?) or will the ‘wrong’ be based purely on appearance and the premise that because they are not acceptably thin – they must change? I guess that only viewing will tell.
What would I like to see Huge achieve? As a member of the Actionist Network®, I think Huge could possibly achieve many positive things. It’s screening alone is, I have my fingers crossed, a sign that we hopefully will begin to see more plus sized characters on tv. The more there are, the more likely we will see them portrayed in a more positive and usual light, as is usually afforded thinner characters. Mostly what I hope the show will do through sensitivity, great writing and promotion of the core belief that these young people are important, valued and beautiful for more than just what they look like or don’t look like, is a change in how fat people are seen by the viewing public and wider community.
I hope the show will not promote fat hatred amongst people, with tweeting, facebook pages and comments that these young characters and the actors who play them are slobs, gross, lazy and hideous – all the usual things we know fat people and young fat people have directed at them on a regular basis. I would love to think that Huge will make great inroads in helping young people learn to understand that fat is not necessarily unhealthy and it is most definately not something that must be ‘fixed’ so that once someone is thin – they are therefore beautiful, acceptable and ok. That would be an incredible achievement and possibly a bit of a stretch – but I’m hoping the opening up of conversation about Huge will at least create some inroads towards it.
For any of my USA based readers who watch Huge on this coming Monday night, I’d love your thoughts and feedback. Tell me what you think.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Julie! Like you, I am hoping that this may be a show that portrays big kids as diverse and interesting, as complex and multi-layered, as the thin kids, and not just another show that focuses on weight loss. Maybe it even will throw in some "health at every size" concepts! we'll see…I wrote about it on my blog too.
I am hoping the show will give people a new perspective on overweight people and will make them less judgmental. I'm not going to lie though, I don't think it will happen.