The trailer for Netflix's Insatiable has already made quite an impact on social media, though perhaps not for the reasons the creators may have anticipated. The show, which stars Debby Ryan and Alyssa Milano, tells the story of Patty, an overweight girl known as (ugh) "Fatty Patty" at her high school. After she is (UGH!) punched in the face and has her jaw wired shut for a summer, she returns to school thin and therefore conventionally attractive, and so decides to exact revenge on the bullies who made fun of her before. And yes, Debby Ryan wears a fat suit for her portrayal of "Fatty Patty." Many people on Twitter and otherwise immediately reacted to the premise of the show, calling it a fat-shaming opus. Others rightfully pointed out that the movie does more than fat-shame, and that the premise also legitimizes several harmful and disingenuous conceptions about size. BuzzFeed's Kristin Chirico pointed out the difference in a series of tweets: Like this is technically correct in a broad sense but doesn’t address the core problematic issues of the premise of the show being about needing to be thin to get what you want (and doing it in an extreme deprivation-based way)/using fat bodies as costumes, etc. pic.twitter.com/jRz9CNXeEq — Kristin Chirico (@lolacoaster) July 20, 2018 Other people attempted to lay out in simple terms exactly why the base narrative of Insatiable is harmful. it • promotes fat-shaming • teaches young people that if you don’t eat, you’ll become skinny and desirable • romanticizes revenge fantasies • shows that you’re only deserving of love and popularity if you fall into society’s definition of beauty — jenna 106 (@jennajozeph) July 20, 2018 this is a good example of why i grew up insecure and thought i would never be loved because of my size. give us a story where the fat girl stays fat, struggles, but learns to accept her body and overcomes societal standards. #insatiable https://t.co/v9WchYgKVG — lacey (@geamxs) July 19, 2018 As someone who studies fat stigma I can unequivocally say that this series will do serious damage to the lives of fat teenagers who may watch the show. @netflix — Amanda Levitt (@FatBodyPolitics) July 19, 2018 Alyssa Milano, who stars in Insatiable, responded to these criticisms by tweeting that the show is not meant to fat-shame Patty's character but rather show the effects of bullying: We are not shaming Patty. We are addressing (through comedy) the damage that occurs from fat shaming. I hope that clears it up. Also, this article does a good job of explaining it more: https://t.co/WoR8R7TjqR #Insatiable https://t.co/GFkDdsn1uh — Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) July 19, 2018 It's clear that Insatiable's premise embodies several harmful stereotypes about bodies and size, at least based on the way the show has been marketed. While it may be an attempt to satirically explore bullying, its comedic execution and social message may not be enough to offset the perception that it misrepresents body positivity.<doc-sep>Alyssa Milano has jumped to the defence of the new Netflix show Insatiable after it was heavily criticised over allegations of 'fat-shaming'. On Thursday, the global streaming service released the trailer for the programme, which follows a character called Patty, played by Debby Ryan, who’s relentlessly mocked at school for being overweight. Patty loses weight over summer following a procedure where she has to have her jaw wired shut and seeks revenge over her classmates, a premise that’s been widely condemned on social media. Many felt incensed over the implication that a person is only perceived as being worthy of reverence and admiration once they’ve lost weight and become what others would deem as conventionally attractive. “You have a chance to make creative, engaging, original content from fat people about fat people’s lives and you choose to… put a skinny person in a fat suit and make jokes about how sad her life is and about what a crazy bitch she turns into. That’s so lazy and pathetic,” one person wrote on Twitter. “Honestly, did anyone who worked on this show talk to a fat person? Like ever?” another person commented. “This pushes disordered eating AND the fact that you have to lose weight to be ‘better’. Shame on everyone who was involved with this project.” Adam Cox, a clinical hypnotherapist who specialises in weight loss, explains to The Independent why the show may have an especially negative effect on those who suffer from body image issues. “The series seems to be entirely based around negative connotations to do with weight, which is inherently harmful to anyone who has struggled with body issues,” he says. “While we’ve seen many shows and movies encourage body positivity, unfortunately there are still some which aim to perpetuate already harmful stereotypes which do nothing to address these issues at best, and at worst knowingly pursue controversy to gain viewings. Recommended Jameela Jamil sums up body pressures put on women in viral tweet “To do this when people’s mental health may be compromised by such a tactic, especially young people, strikes me as irresponsible and dangerous.” Toby Ingham, a UKCP registered psychotherapist, explains how the original intention of the show likely became lost in translation. "The criticism is powerful, passionate and hard to argue against. It does seem as though the programme makers may not have thought this through, though that seems unlikely," he says. "The criticism picks up on the show making fat a phobic issue that demands 'female obedience,' in Woolf's words. It is hard to come back from that kind of comment. This will stick. Recommended Mental health education to be made compulsory in England schools "It is likely that the programme will put pressure on the mental health of young viewers," he continues. Liam Preston, head of YMCA's 'Be Real' campaign, says that while it's too early to judge the show in its entirety, "the trailer for Insatiable does appear to reinforce the notion that society prefers you when you're slim." He remains optimistic about the positive influence that the show could have, telling The Independent: "Hopefully, the show will try and tackle this issue sensitively, rather than be an opportunity to roll out tasteless jokes." Alyssa Milano, who stars in the show, has expressed her opposition to the immense criticism that the programme, which passed on by TV network The CW, has received. “We are not shaming Patty,” she wrote. “We are addressing (through comedy) the damage that occurs from fat shaming. I hope that clears it up.” However, critics of Insatiable have responded to Milano’s comments explaining why they believe her view is misguided. “Lacking identity as a fat person and not feeling like you can pick who you want to be until you become thing? So harmful,” one person replied. “Fat people have identities, fat people are not these miserable humans, and we deserve more.” Recommended 5 tips to help someone suffering with an eating disorder Another person wrote: “I think you need to take a step back and listen to people who have lived the experience of being overweight and take into consideration what they are saying without being so defensive. Their words are important.” In June, an artist from Oregon wrote a lengthy thread on Twitter outlining the judgement that he is forced to cope with on a daily basis for "being fat". He explained that he had become self-conscious of almost every single action, from how he chews his food to the way in which strangers look at him in the street. In April a 19-year-old from Indiana was praised online for the way in which she handled being fat-shamed in a bakery. The Independent has contacted Netflix for comment.<doc-sep>Netflix's lineup of original TV shows has really run the gamut as of late. From dark, controversial teen dramas (13 Reasons Why) to a truly delightful reboot of a reality TV classic (Queer Eye), the streaming giant clearly isn't afraid of embracing programs that take risks. Insatiable, a TV series that arrives on Aug. 10 and just released its first trailer (above), is definitely one of them. The black comedy, billed as "a coming-of-rage story," stars Debby Ryan as Patty, an overweight teenager whose classmates cruelly ridicule her weight and appearance (hence her painfully unoriginal nickname, "Fatty Patty"). But after getting punched in the face by an adult man (uh, yeah), Patty has her jaw wired shut, loses all the weight, and decides to get revenge on everyone who's done her wrong. Highlights include toying with the possibility of lighting the man who punched her on fire, punching a few people in the face herself, and becoming a beauty queen. Her "insatiable" need for vengeance — which, ultimately, is because she can't get over how hot she is now — leads her to cross paths with lawyer/beauty pageant coach Bob (Dallas Roberts); his wife, Coralee (Alyssa Milano); and a nasty fellow beauty queen (Irene Choi), among others. Check out the first wild trailer for the series above before it hits Netflix in a few weeks.<doc-sep>
As soon as the trailer for Insatiable came out on Thursday, the new Netflix series was immediately hit with backlash. The dark comedy is billed as "a coming-of-rage story," and stars Debby Ryan as Patty, an overweight teenager whose classmates cruelly ridicule her weight and appearance (hence her painfully unoriginal nickname, "Fatty Patty"). But after getting punched in the face during an altercation in a parking lot, Patty has her jaw wired shut, loses all the weight, and decides to get revenge on everyone who's done her wrong. People on Twitter have especially taken umbrage with the fact that Ryan wears a fat suit at the start of the series, as well as how her self-confidence skyrockets only when she loses the weight and begins taking vengeance on the people in her town. "This is the oldest trope in the book of fat tropes," one Twitter user wrote. "Fat kids becoming thin and attractive to prove all of the abusers they encountered wrong." Insatiable star Alyssa Milano, who plays the social-climbing wife of a beauty pageant coach in the series, spoke out about the controversy herself, saying that they're "addressing (through comedy) the damage that occurs from fat shaming." In an interview with Teen Vogue, Ryan also tried to shade in her character's motivations a little, something that you don't really get a chance to see in the trailer. "[People] don't fully understand the depth and breadth and fire of Patty's rage," she said. "And I don't think Patty does, either, so throughout this process she's kind of discovering how far she'll go to either exact revenge on anyone who's wronged her or, in her mind, make things right and give herself all of the things that she was robbed of or feel she was robbed in kind of the earlier first bit of her life." Regardless of where you personally land on the subject after watching the Insatiable trailer, you can check out all of the reactions to the series ahead.