First it was "The Biggest Loser," the NBC fitness-weight loss program that asks obese participants to work out and weigh in wearing revealing bike shorts and sports bras.
Then it was "Dance Your Ass Off," Oxygen's dance-weight-loss competition, which features "talented full-figured contestants who struggle with their weight and through dancing unleash their inner thin."
Now it's "More to Love," Fox's plus-size version of "The Bachelor" -- or "'Fat'chelor," as some have dubbed it. This one has an overweight single guy dating 20 "voluptuous" women "determined to prove that love comes in all shapes and sizes."
Enough, already. Let's trim the "fat" shows.
Why? Because as much as the networks like to say they are "empowering" to overweight people, the shows are exploitative -- produced more for their entertainment value to the general public than for their benefit to those who struggle with their weight. Why else would more than 9.3 million viewers tune in on a single night, earning one network a strong second-place finish in the Nielsen ratings?
Who hasn't tuned in at least once to gasp, cluck or tee-hee over the contestants, as if ogling the Fat Lady in the circus? What's funnier, after all, than a pudgy person wearing body-hugging "fitness" clothing that bares every roll and ripple of flesh -- and jiggling it all to a dance beat? Peruse the comments posted on some of the shows' Web sites and you'll get an eyeful: "Better than Morning Joke" or "Oy ... that's just sad."
If the idea really were to erase stereotypes, to give a public face and voice to those society views less favorably, why not also create shows that cast people with below-average looks or IQs of, say, 100 or below? They could be called "Hit with the Ugly Stick" or "U Dumb." Why not cast blondes, those who wear glasses, or people with overbites?
The reason is simple: Now that the government has declared obesity a national health crisis -- and those who are obese as collectively responsible for burdening an already overtaxed health care system -- it's safe, indeed, politically correct, to scorn the fat guy.
Like certain other groups that have been singled out for ridicule and hatred through the centuries, overweight people are finding themselves in an increasingly hostile environment.
I don't know about you, but the "fat" people I know are respected doctors and lawyers, teachers and nurses, actors, artists and businessmen. They're good parents, good citizens, good people, who possess in abundance all the qualities -- save one -- that society professes to admire.
And reality shows that seek to cash in at their expense are the true biggest losers.
Reach staff writer Marta Hepler Drahos at mdrahos@record-eagle.com.
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