More To Love? Really? Why don’t they just call it Fatties in Heat™ and get it over with?
Now, I’m not trying to be “fattist.” I struggled with weight as a kid, and I understand the pain of being heavy, and of being made fun of for it. I’m not having a go at the participants, or at heavy people in general.
My issue, rather, is with the whole concept of reality television, and the American attitude that enables it. I was going to write “uniquely American” but I don’t think that’s accurate. The plethora of Big Brother national spin-offs (from Spanish to German to Australian) belies the idea that only Americans can be moronically shallow, self-absorbed and voyeuristic. But I think it’s fair to say that Americans revel in crappy, scripted, poorly-written and smugly self-satisfied “reality” television more than anyone else.
My annoyance stems from the fact that More To Love screams ignorance, falsity of purpose, and hypocrisy from every cathode-ray pore. The people who watch are not tuning in to absorb the humanity, feelings of loss, and sense of righteousness of people who feel down-trodden and misunderstood. They want to watch fat people struggle into “sexy” clothes and make fools of themselves.
I’m no “down-on-America” communist. I love this country. I just think that most of it is filled with people who give little or no thought to the actions they take, or what those actions mean about themselves. Thougthlessness is an ugly quality; sometimes it makes me sad, and othertimes it makes me angry. This show makes me angry. Not just because it’s exploitative, but because the producers would hide behind false argument that it’s empowering. It is not empowering anyone. It’s social usury.
I suppose this post is more of a rant than a review, but so be it. It’s my blog after all. The television show “More To Love” (as yet, un-aired) get’s a 1 out of 10. Boom.
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