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next_to_normalHas anyone been watching Huge? I wasn't planning to watch it - no, that's not really strong enough. When I heard about it, I'm pretty sure my reaction was, "Oh, HELL NO." The concept - overweight kids at fat camp - seemed like a veritable TV landmine of cliches and fat jokes and watching fat people suffer in the vein of The Biggest Loser.
But I read this review from Fatshionista that convinced me to give it a try, and I have to admit, I'm pleasantly surprised. It's definitely painful to watch at times, but not because it's stereotypical - rather because it's often so painfully familiar.
There's one scene in the pilot episode where Will (Nikki Blonsky of Hairspray, which I haven't seen yet and I probably should), who's something of a rebel and doesn't want to lose weight, volunteers to eat another camper's dessert. The reply: "Are you sure that's a good idea?" It's exactly as judgmental as it sounds. And it echoes so many of my mother's comments when I was growing up, it's not even funny.
It's the little things that make your breath catch in your throat. Like Amber (who, by the way, is "the skinny one" at fat camp by virtue of being about a size 10, but dreams of looking like a fashion model), when invited to sit on a guy's lap, inching down so gingerly that it's obvious she's terrified of squashing him. This, right here, is why I love guys like James Marsters but date guys the size of David Boreanaz.
It's things like this that make me think the people writing this show really know what they're dealing with (one of the creators was also the creator of My So-Called Life, which I've never seen, but I'm told the treatment is similar). These are very sensitive and often painful issues, and they way they're being addressed so far suggests a deft hand. It's often subtle, but it's quietly subversive in how it portrays things that are disturbing (and yet terribly commonplace) and just expects you to get that it's disturbing without needing to explain it.
I definitely see myself in Amber's insecurity, her desire to change herself, and her just-shy-of-an-eating-disorder mindset.* Will is awesome to watch (you kind of have to love a character who says things like, ”When I see propaganda that I know is destroying girls’ brains, it is my duty as an angry feminist to destroy it” and posts a sign reading, “Screw body fascism”), but she's also very hard for me to identify with, because I can't ever imagine being that comfortable in my own body. I love timid Becca to itty bitty pieces - in fact, she might be the one I identify with most. She's a camp regular who gained back all the weight she lost last summer, who admires Will's rebelliousness but still wants to go home thinner. I'm not as cripplingly shy as she is, but I am pretty introverted and passive in real life (yes I am! shut up!).
Also, an incentive for Whedonverse fans is that Dr. Rand, the camp director, is played by our own Gina Torres. I admit, I am having a lot of trouble seeing her as a formerly fat person who still struggles with temptation. I mean, she plays it spectacularly (there is a scene with a mini muffin that is spot-on), but I have a real problem with the idea that fat women can look like Gina Torres if they just try hard enough. (This is something I've struggled to accept, that no matter what I do, I can't ever be a size 4.) On the other hand, I love that the camp's fitness instructor is a Jillian Michaels parody. I love that, instead of the fat kids being the butt of the joke, it's the psycho trainer who's being mocked.
And it's pretty clear that it's not going to be just a show about Fat People Being Fat. The characters have ceased to be "fat kids" are are just... kids, dealing with all kinds of insecurity issues, from shyness to personal hygiene to a love of LARPing. I don't have to tell you how remarkable it is to find characters on television who don't fit the Hollywood beauty ideal (and aren't used solely for comic relief), let alone an entire TV show full of them.
It's also been really interesting to see how the dynamics of (teen) society work in this context. Remember what Xander said in "The Pack" about the ubiquity of mean kids? Everyone here's overweight, but the ones like Amber, who are pretty and look like they don't even need to be there, become the popular girls, and it's intoxicating. They're turning into the cruel bullies whom they'd hate at home, because now they have someone fatter/nerdier/more shy to prey on.
So, to sum up this teal deer, I like it. Sometimes it makes me want to cry, but not in a bad way.
*In related news, I bought a scale this weekend and have started weighing myself obsessively and freaking out over every change, which is precisely why I resisted buying one in the first place. Oh, well. Gotta have something to tell the new therapist, I suppose.
But I read this review from Fatshionista that convinced me to give it a try, and I have to admit, I'm pleasantly surprised. It's definitely painful to watch at times, but not because it's stereotypical - rather because it's often so painfully familiar.
There's one scene in the pilot episode where Will (Nikki Blonsky of Hairspray, which I haven't seen yet and I probably should), who's something of a rebel and doesn't want to lose weight, volunteers to eat another camper's dessert. The reply: "Are you sure that's a good idea?" It's exactly as judgmental as it sounds. And it echoes so many of my mother's comments when I was growing up, it's not even funny.
It's the little things that make your breath catch in your throat. Like Amber (who, by the way, is "the skinny one" at fat camp by virtue of being about a size 10, but dreams of looking like a fashion model), when invited to sit on a guy's lap, inching down so gingerly that it's obvious she's terrified of squashing him. This, right here, is why I love guys like James Marsters but date guys the size of David Boreanaz.
It's things like this that make me think the people writing this show really know what they're dealing with (one of the creators was also the creator of My So-Called Life, which I've never seen, but I'm told the treatment is similar). These are very sensitive and often painful issues, and they way they're being addressed so far suggests a deft hand. It's often subtle, but it's quietly subversive in how it portrays things that are disturbing (and yet terribly commonplace) and just expects you to get that it's disturbing without needing to explain it.
I definitely see myself in Amber's insecurity, her desire to change herself, and her just-shy-of-an-eating-disorder mindset.* Will is awesome to watch (you kind of have to love a character who says things like, ”When I see propaganda that I know is destroying girls’ brains, it is my duty as an angry feminist to destroy it” and posts a sign reading, “Screw body fascism”), but she's also very hard for me to identify with, because I can't ever imagine being that comfortable in my own body. I love timid Becca to itty bitty pieces - in fact, she might be the one I identify with most. She's a camp regular who gained back all the weight she lost last summer, who admires Will's rebelliousness but still wants to go home thinner. I'm not as cripplingly shy as she is, but I am pretty introverted and passive in real life (yes I am! shut up!).
Also, an incentive for Whedonverse fans is that Dr. Rand, the camp director, is played by our own Gina Torres. I admit, I am having a lot of trouble seeing her as a formerly fat person who still struggles with temptation. I mean, she plays it spectacularly (there is a scene with a mini muffin that is spot-on), but I have a real problem with the idea that fat women can look like Gina Torres if they just try hard enough. (This is something I've struggled to accept, that no matter what I do, I can't ever be a size 4.) On the other hand, I love that the camp's fitness instructor is a Jillian Michaels parody. I love that, instead of the fat kids being the butt of the joke, it's the psycho trainer who's being mocked.
And it's pretty clear that it's not going to be just a show about Fat People Being Fat. The characters have ceased to be "fat kids" are are just... kids, dealing with all kinds of insecurity issues, from shyness to personal hygiene to a love of LARPing. I don't have to tell you how remarkable it is to find characters on television who don't fit the Hollywood beauty ideal (and aren't used solely for comic relief), let alone an entire TV show full of them.
It's also been really interesting to see how the dynamics of (teen) society work in this context. Remember what Xander said in "The Pack" about the ubiquity of mean kids? Everyone here's overweight, but the ones like Amber, who are pretty and look like they don't even need to be there, become the popular girls, and it's intoxicating. They're turning into the cruel bullies whom they'd hate at home, because now they have someone fatter/nerdier/more shy to prey on.
So, to sum up this teal deer, I like it. Sometimes it makes me want to cry, but not in a bad way.
*In related news, I bought a scale this weekend and have started weighing myself obsessively and freaking out over every change, which is precisely why I resisted buying one in the first place. Oh, well. Gotta have something to tell the new therapist, I suppose.
