First off: The Nightline show where I was in the audience is now available on Hulu and the entire thing (in several parts) is on the Nightline site. I don't know how long it will be up, so watch it soon.
On Thursday I caught the last NYC show of Erica Watson's Fat Bitch. I wish I'd seen it in the beginning so I can recommend it to everyone. However Erica will be taking it on tour, so check her website and join her mailing list for future shows. Her show is not only very funny, but pushes on social commentary on fat, race, sex, gender. A particular part I enjoyed was the roles Hollywood gives to people, the white girl must be skinny, the big black girl must be sassy (A character Erica creates called "Super Mammy") and most important that even black men are pushed into the super mammy role (i.e. Tyler Perry, Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence). So if her show comes to your town, go see it, it is worth more than the price of admissions. The show was inspiring, funny, and realistic.
Something that is not inspiring, funny or realistic is the Biggest Loser. Instead it is stupid, vapid, and demeaning to fat folks, making the actors seem less than human unless they get thin. Oh, and health experts, even those who think being obesity is the worse thing ever, believe he show to be unhealthy.
"The show, which takes obese Americans and pits them against each other in a battle to lose the most weight and win $250,000, thrives on extreme numbers. But physicians and nutritionists worry the show's focus on competitive weight loss is, at best, counterproductive and, at worst, dangerous."
I mention many times on my blog that diets (even "sensible" plans) don't work for most people in the long run. However if you must lose weight, a "Healthy" weight loss would be 1-2 pounds a week which is significant less than the 34 pound loss one of the contestant managed to do in a week. This show encourages dangerous rapid weight loss.
"Losing weight rapidly can be risky, according to Virginia Tech professor of human nutrition, foods and exercise Janet Walberg Rankin. Patients who lose weight quickly run the risk of gallstones, mineral deficiencies, loss of muscle tissue and reduced bone density."
Words can't describe how much I hate this show. But in order for it to end, we have to stop watching.
"we" have to stop watching?
I haven't watched it and see no reason to. ;)
Posted by: living400lbs | March 01, 2010 at 11:43 PM