Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Food for Thought

Call me a worrywart, but I don't know about this new trend on television. USA Today reports that networks are adding "heft to their lineups," with shows like "Dance Your Ass Off" (fat people dancing), "More to Love" (a fat version of "The Bachelor") and "Ruby" (a reality show that chronicles the life of a morbidly obese woman). But if my mom is right that TV "causes all these poor girls to get anorexia" (I've never actually seen one of these people walking around the Phoenix metropolitan area, but OK), then might these shows that glorify and glamorize being overweight have the same effect in the opposite direction? I mean, seriously. They're already saying TV-ready bear Billy Mays probably died of heart disease ...

"Dance Your Ass Off"
"More to Love"
"Ruby"

2 comments:

Eduardo Guize said...

Well, the difference is that shows with skinny people usually present them as the ideal shape and these shows you mention use the "freak" appeal.

But don't worry, just like every TV trend, it will get burned up and replaced.

Mike said...

"Dance Your Ass Off" is a weight-loss competition in addition to a dance competition. The goal is for the contestants to get into better shape. It doesn't glorify being overweight at all.