ABC Family's Huge
So one of ABC Family's new summer shows is called Huge and is about a fat camp and the people who go there/run it, etc. ABC Family describes the show as following:
Funny, heartbreaking and provocative, Huge follows the lives of seven teens and the staff at a weight-loss camp, as they look beneath the surface to discover their true selves and the truth about each other.
In Huge, Nikki Blonsky will portray Willamina, a teen whose sardonic and rebellious nature make her a menace to some and revolutionary to others. Additional cast include Zander Eckhouse as George, Harvey Guillen as Alistair, Ari Stidham as Ian, Ashley Holliday as Chloe and Hayley Hasselhoff as Amber.
Fatshionista also has a great review of the show.
They immediately start the fatties off with a cross-country jog, because what you want to do with your out-of-shape individuals is get them doing the most high-impact activity possible right away, with no regard for pre-existing variances in aerobic fitness or joint health. RUN, FATTIES, RUN. When one fat dude stops to catch his breath, Jillian Michaels Analogue yells at him that “can’t” is not an option, and makes him do twenty jumping jacks. Because what you want to do with your person needing to catch his breath is make him do further intense activity. You know, I was concerned that maybe this show would not speak to the large percentage of sick fucks in America who derive fetishistic pleasure from seeing fat people being “punished” and pushed past all healthy limits of comfort and safety. I’m so relieved that the sick-fuck population is being acknowledged.
more at the source
The show premiered monday night and it was interesting to say the least. Personally I feel like it has some good points, like the fact that 95% of the cast is huge so it's forcing its viewers to see lots of fat people and exposure can be a good thing, it also brings up a lot of the issues many fat people deal with every day, the way society shames them for eating anything, or the feeling that as Nikki Blonsky's character says "Everyone wants us to hate our bodies" and "I don't feel like I should have to change because my parents are ashamed of the way I look" for example. At the same time, it has a lot of troubling things, like the rampant disordered eating that goes unremarked upon (although one girl is 'outed' for bulimia and kicked out of camp because it's a serious issue and she needs to go to therapy, which is a good thing, the 'smaller' accounts of disordered eating especially having to do with dieting are played as the norm) or the fact that the setting IS a fat camp which in itself suggests there's something wrong with being fat. Although Nikki Blonksy's character is deadpan and sarcastic about the ideas of fat camp, she's played as being in the wrong in many ways for wanting to accept her fat.
So what do you guys think? Does the show promote fat acceptance or is it just another way for television to talk about the "obesity epidemic" (lol no) and shove WEIGHT LOSS IS EASY IF YOU REALLY TRY in our faces.