Why the Netflix hit 'Insatiable' is SUCH a Problem
So. Here we are again. The endless news story, battle and crisis of defining a woman's worth based on her aesthetic appearance.
Netflix have realised (and now renewed for second season) a fatphobic, LGBTQ+ stereotyping and all-round problematic "revenge body narrative" show Insatiable. Really? This isn't 1950 anymore. This isn't okay anymore.
I mean, that may have been a bit harsh. But like many of Netflix's teen realises - Insatiable is almost positive, but just totally misses the mark. Like Riverdale and Thirteen Reasons Why, Netflix attempts to live in a modern, progressive era and send a positive message to today's youth - but just goes about it all in such a misguided way.
So. Here's my list of 5 reasons why the show missed the mark and wound up being offensive and just generally inexcusable:
1. The Blurring of Being Overweight and Being Mentally Unwell
It is frequently mentioned that Patty (the central character, who - after having her jaw wired shut after a violent incident - has lost a lot of weight) was 'sick' when the characters talk about her past, when she was overweight, and the way she and others speak about the past it sounds as though she had some sort of guilt-fuelled binge-eating eating disorder, affecting her as much mentally as it did physically - although this is never really disclosed, spoken about or explored.
Equally, Patty's character is just as miserable when she is thinner. Debby Ryan claimed on Twitter that the show aims to reveal to its audience that thin does not equal happy - which is an important message undoubtedly - but just gets so confused. As Jenna Guillaume explains in her article for Buzzfeed, to achieve this, they would have shown a character who is overweight and happy. But Patty is miserable in both bodies. Patty seems to display some qualities of depressive episodes and/or eating disorders - but this is framed constantly with regards to being overweight. Instead of explaining that she still isn't happy despite having obtained a healthy weight - Patty explains that 'Fatty Patty' lives as a demon inside her. Again mental illness is intertwined with weight. As Arielle Bernstein writes for The Guardian - 'fatness itself is synonymous with disordered eating'.
2. The Fat-Suit wearing Thin Actor
The trope of a thin actor wearing a fat suit in flashbacks is demeaning, dehumanising and humiliating to overweight and plus-size bodies. As well as this, the opening monologue for me is perhaps the most personally insulting part. "I've heard stories of girls who grow up happy and well-adjusted, with a healthy relationship to food and their bodies - screw those bitches....I spent my entire adolescence hating my body...".
A) this is not an experience limited to girls
B) this is not an experience limited to those that are overweight - body dysmorphia is present amongst women and men with all different body types - in fact, the majority of people spend their adolescence despising huge areas of their bodies - this not an uncommon experience, this is not unusual or a one-off and finally
C) we should not shame people who are happy and healthy - but maybe try and work out why we can't share that outlook - again, it points to a mental association rather than a physical one - not that I'm any sort of therapist lol but still!
3. "However unintentional, the message is that thin people’s stories are worth telling, while fat people are relegated to nightmarish flashbacks and cheap jokes." (Buzzfeed)
Never cool
The point the article makes here is that the story and narrative of each episode doesn't begin or progress whilst Debby Ryan's character wears the fat suit, and these scenes are only used to paint her 'old life' as unhealthy, unpleasant and disgusting. Compared to scenes in which she is thin, where she lives her life and progresses as a character and as a person.
There is an actual line from a powerful legal figure within the first ten minutes that actually says - 'nobody cares about fatties or homeless people'
This even continues within the legal themes that the first episode begins with; Bob's initial legal strategy is for Patty to settle, but after her new found attractiveness decides she should plead not-guilty as 'pretty girls don't have to settle'.
(check out the Buzzfeed articles here; https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/problematic-insatiable-moments, https://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/insatiable-fat-shaming?utm_term=.wbG6On1Ob#.agqydBNdk, https://www.buzzfeed.com/adeonibada/this-netflix-show-about-a-plus-size-girl-on-a-journey-for?utm_term=.fa8XqNKqE#.rcB5XEeXg)
4. The Weak Ass LGBTQ+ Representation That Feels Half-Hearted As Hell
The representation of LGBTQ characters seems to rely mainly on stereotype - for example the 'best friend character' of Nonnie - who only discovers her sexuality as a gay woman because of her bestfriend's new-found attractiveness. Once this is made known to the audience, there are a lonnnnggggg series of misguided and frankly odd jokes made in bad taste toward and by the character. There is also a moment when one "mean girl" type character (Dixie) says "I just figured everyone would think I'm a slut, but now they think I'm a lesbian and that's way worse." (after sending a nude of herself round the school via Patty's phone to frame her for cyberbullying). A weak attempt at a joke at Dixie's narrow world view this may be, it is easily misinterpreted and fails to actually go into the very real and harsh consequences of cyberbullying or LGBTQ+-based bullying.
As a side-note to this, there is some representation of trans stories, but again this is so surface-view it's kinda awkward. Everything is framed in relation to Patty's old weight and life. Patty has a discussion with a trans girl in which they discuss how they both know the feeling of being uncomfortable in their bodies, and decide to flaunt them as a solution to this.
In fact, even from the opening introduction to each character, both Dixie and her mum use the word "trannies", discussing their ideas and wishes to keep "trannies out of the ladies room" - then justifying this with how they wish to keep homophobes out of the country --- whilst this is obviously a weak-taste joke, it is just so needlessly confused; and again just blurs the show's sense of morality.
5. The Fetishistic Elements and The Failure of the Satire
Debby Ryan's character is sexualised as a thin woman and fetishised as a plus-size woman with an emphasis on her mouth throughout - when she eats, when she is unable to eat, in the intro, in the ad campaigns for the show - everything. The camera work in many scenes exhibits an almost Hitchcock-like voyeurism.
Within the first five minutes, Bob (lawyer-cum-beauty-pageant-coach) is wrongly accused of sexual molestation of a minor by a disgruntled mother when her child does not win her pageant. Which is treated comically - the mother declaring 'He touched her hoo-hoo' (later when Bob calls Patty 'pretty' she instantly is drawn to him - and upon finding out about the child molestation accusations says 'I might actually have a shot'. Really? Who wrote this stuff.). The same mother then later in the series initiates a sexual relationship with a minor - which is only pointed out on one occasional as statutory rape.
In fact - there is little sense of female sexual liberation at all, and it seems to me that the representation of women within it itself is problematic. When Patty's mother tells Bob about what could have been before she fell pregnant, she says; 'I was almost Miss Georgia back in the day, but I got knocked up - had Patty ... I blame myself. I was a drunken whore.'. Whether or not this is a representation of the setting in Southern America and attitudes in that location is unclear, but these thoughts aren't challenged.
The women within the show also frequently rely on their sexuality to succeed - from this scene with Patty's mother revealing the tops of her breasts to Bob in hope to convince him to take Patty's case, to the whole beauty pageant theme in general. Even Patty's intimate and extensive political knowledge is only used in the show and introduced to the audience in terms to her potential pageant success when combined with her new weight and glamour.
Anyways, the show seems to see itself as a satire, but, it has been pointed out by many that it isn't exactly clear what it attempts to satirise. Again, Bernstein says it better than I could; 'Insatiable is clearly striving to be an edgy satire of our image-obsessed culture and our constant need for more, but the candy-colored veneer of the series never offers viewers an actual escape from the toxic tropes it attempts to skewer. In fact, the show often seems intent on embodying the very stereotypes that it claims to be dismantling.'
Again, a problem for me is something which is pretty consistent in TV in general - grown men and women playing high school age characters. I believe this in itself sends a damaging message to teens of high school age as it sets them unrealistic expectations of what their bodies and appearances ought to be. Debby Ryan is 25 years old. Just a thought.
And you know what - it's not even the fat-shaming. It is almost teaching fat-shame. Telling thin people how to respond to overweight people and telling overweight people that they aren't worth talking about.
NB - I don't believe the outcome of the show/the messages of the show were the intent. It is clear that the intent was good, at least from what the writers and the actors have spoken in its defence. But nevertheless, Insatiable does not achieve the message of hope and the satire of the image-driven modern world - it (maybe accidentally) reinforces everything wrong with our fat-phobic world.
If you want to sign the petition to cancel the show, here's the link -
https://www.change.org/p/cancel-the-body-shaming-series-insatiable-produced-by-netflix
(References
lots of info and analysis I used here originates from the following articles (as well as the show):
https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/problematic-insatiable-moments https://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/insatiable-fat-shaming?utm_term=.wbG6On1Ob#.agqydBNdk
https://www.buzzfeed.com/adeonibada/this-netflix-show-about-a-plus-size-girl-on-a-journey-for?utm_term=.fa8XqNKqE#.rcB5XEeXg)
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jul/24/netflix-insatiable-change-petition-fat-shaming
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/aug/08/insatiable-netflix-comedy-fat-shaming)
Netflix have realised (and now renewed for second season) a fatphobic, LGBTQ+ stereotyping and all-round problematic "revenge body narrative" show Insatiable. Really? This isn't 1950 anymore. This isn't okay anymore.
I mean, that may have been a bit harsh. But like many of Netflix's teen realises - Insatiable is almost positive, but just totally misses the mark. Like Riverdale and Thirteen Reasons Why, Netflix attempts to live in a modern, progressive era and send a positive message to today's youth - but just goes about it all in such a misguided way.
So. Here's my list of 5 reasons why the show missed the mark and wound up being offensive and just generally inexcusable:
1. The Blurring of Being Overweight and Being Mentally Unwell
It is frequently mentioned that Patty (the central character, who - after having her jaw wired shut after a violent incident - has lost a lot of weight) was 'sick' when the characters talk about her past, when she was overweight, and the way she and others speak about the past it sounds as though she had some sort of guilt-fuelled binge-eating eating disorder, affecting her as much mentally as it did physically - although this is never really disclosed, spoken about or explored.
Equally, Patty's character is just as miserable when she is thinner. Debby Ryan claimed on Twitter that the show aims to reveal to its audience that thin does not equal happy - which is an important message undoubtedly - but just gets so confused. As Jenna Guillaume explains in her article for Buzzfeed, to achieve this, they would have shown a character who is overweight and happy. But Patty is miserable in both bodies. Patty seems to display some qualities of depressive episodes and/or eating disorders - but this is framed constantly with regards to being overweight. Instead of explaining that she still isn't happy despite having obtained a healthy weight - Patty explains that 'Fatty Patty' lives as a demon inside her. Again mental illness is intertwined with weight. As Arielle Bernstein writes for The Guardian - 'fatness itself is synonymous with disordered eating'.
2. The Fat-Suit wearing Thin Actor
The trope of a thin actor wearing a fat suit in flashbacks is demeaning, dehumanising and humiliating to overweight and plus-size bodies. As well as this, the opening monologue for me is perhaps the most personally insulting part. "I've heard stories of girls who grow up happy and well-adjusted, with a healthy relationship to food and their bodies - screw those bitches....I spent my entire adolescence hating my body...".
A) this is not an experience limited to girls
B) this is not an experience limited to those that are overweight - body dysmorphia is present amongst women and men with all different body types - in fact, the majority of people spend their adolescence despising huge areas of their bodies - this not an uncommon experience, this is not unusual or a one-off and finally
C) we should not shame people who are happy and healthy - but maybe try and work out why we can't share that outlook - again, it points to a mental association rather than a physical one - not that I'm any sort of therapist lol but still!
3. "However unintentional, the message is that thin people’s stories are worth telling, while fat people are relegated to nightmarish flashbacks and cheap jokes." (Buzzfeed)
Never cool
The point the article makes here is that the story and narrative of each episode doesn't begin or progress whilst Debby Ryan's character wears the fat suit, and these scenes are only used to paint her 'old life' as unhealthy, unpleasant and disgusting. Compared to scenes in which she is thin, where she lives her life and progresses as a character and as a person.
There is an actual line from a powerful legal figure within the first ten minutes that actually says - 'nobody cares about fatties or homeless people'
This even continues within the legal themes that the first episode begins with; Bob's initial legal strategy is for Patty to settle, but after her new found attractiveness decides she should plead not-guilty as 'pretty girls don't have to settle'.
(check out the Buzzfeed articles here; https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/problematic-insatiable-moments, https://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/insatiable-fat-shaming?utm_term=.wbG6On1Ob#.agqydBNdk, https://www.buzzfeed.com/adeonibada/this-netflix-show-about-a-plus-size-girl-on-a-journey-for?utm_term=.fa8XqNKqE#.rcB5XEeXg)
4. The Weak Ass LGBTQ+ Representation That Feels Half-Hearted As Hell
The representation of LGBTQ characters seems to rely mainly on stereotype - for example the 'best friend character' of Nonnie - who only discovers her sexuality as a gay woman because of her bestfriend's new-found attractiveness. Once this is made known to the audience, there are a lonnnnggggg series of misguided and frankly odd jokes made in bad taste toward and by the character. There is also a moment when one "mean girl" type character (Dixie) says "I just figured everyone would think I'm a slut, but now they think I'm a lesbian and that's way worse." (after sending a nude of herself round the school via Patty's phone to frame her for cyberbullying). A weak attempt at a joke at Dixie's narrow world view this may be, it is easily misinterpreted and fails to actually go into the very real and harsh consequences of cyberbullying or LGBTQ+-based bullying.
As a side-note to this, there is some representation of trans stories, but again this is so surface-view it's kinda awkward. Everything is framed in relation to Patty's old weight and life. Patty has a discussion with a trans girl in which they discuss how they both know the feeling of being uncomfortable in their bodies, and decide to flaunt them as a solution to this.
In fact, even from the opening introduction to each character, both Dixie and her mum use the word "trannies", discussing their ideas and wishes to keep "trannies out of the ladies room" - then justifying this with how they wish to keep homophobes out of the country --- whilst this is obviously a weak-taste joke, it is just so needlessly confused; and again just blurs the show's sense of morality.
5. The Fetishistic Elements and The Failure of the Satire
Debby Ryan's character is sexualised as a thin woman and fetishised as a plus-size woman with an emphasis on her mouth throughout - when she eats, when she is unable to eat, in the intro, in the ad campaigns for the show - everything. The camera work in many scenes exhibits an almost Hitchcock-like voyeurism.
Within the first five minutes, Bob (lawyer-cum-beauty-pageant-coach) is wrongly accused of sexual molestation of a minor by a disgruntled mother when her child does not win her pageant. Which is treated comically - the mother declaring 'He touched her hoo-hoo' (later when Bob calls Patty 'pretty' she instantly is drawn to him - and upon finding out about the child molestation accusations says 'I might actually have a shot'. Really? Who wrote this stuff.). The same mother then later in the series initiates a sexual relationship with a minor - which is only pointed out on one occasional as statutory rape.
In fact - there is little sense of female sexual liberation at all, and it seems to me that the representation of women within it itself is problematic. When Patty's mother tells Bob about what could have been before she fell pregnant, she says; 'I was almost Miss Georgia back in the day, but I got knocked up - had Patty ... I blame myself. I was a drunken whore.'. Whether or not this is a representation of the setting in Southern America and attitudes in that location is unclear, but these thoughts aren't challenged.
The women within the show also frequently rely on their sexuality to succeed - from this scene with Patty's mother revealing the tops of her breasts to Bob in hope to convince him to take Patty's case, to the whole beauty pageant theme in general. Even Patty's intimate and extensive political knowledge is only used in the show and introduced to the audience in terms to her potential pageant success when combined with her new weight and glamour.
Anyways, the show seems to see itself as a satire, but, it has been pointed out by many that it isn't exactly clear what it attempts to satirise. Again, Bernstein says it better than I could; 'Insatiable is clearly striving to be an edgy satire of our image-obsessed culture and our constant need for more, but the candy-colored veneer of the series never offers viewers an actual escape from the toxic tropes it attempts to skewer. In fact, the show often seems intent on embodying the very stereotypes that it claims to be dismantling.'
Again, a problem for me is something which is pretty consistent in TV in general - grown men and women playing high school age characters. I believe this in itself sends a damaging message to teens of high school age as it sets them unrealistic expectations of what their bodies and appearances ought to be. Debby Ryan is 25 years old. Just a thought.
And you know what - it's not even the fat-shaming. It is almost teaching fat-shame. Telling thin people how to respond to overweight people and telling overweight people that they aren't worth talking about.
NB - I don't believe the outcome of the show/the messages of the show were the intent. It is clear that the intent was good, at least from what the writers and the actors have spoken in its defence. But nevertheless, Insatiable does not achieve the message of hope and the satire of the image-driven modern world - it (maybe accidentally) reinforces everything wrong with our fat-phobic world.
If you want to sign the petition to cancel the show, here's the link -
https://www.change.org/p/cancel-the-body-shaming-series-insatiable-produced-by-netflix
(References
lots of info and analysis I used here originates from the following articles (as well as the show):
https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/problematic-insatiable-moments https://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/insatiable-fat-shaming?utm_term=.wbG6On1Ob#.agqydBNdk
https://www.buzzfeed.com/adeonibada/this-netflix-show-about-a-plus-size-girl-on-a-journey-for?utm_term=.fa8XqNKqE#.rcB5XEeXg)
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jul/24/netflix-insatiable-change-petition-fat-shaming
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/aug/08/insatiable-netflix-comedy-fat-shaming)
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