Biggest Loser Bust Up
There’s been some trouble brewing on the latest season of NBC’s The Biggest Loser. It’s been reported all over the internet that several contestants became upset when they heard a rumor that NBC may be bringing back contestants eliminated in previous seasons to compete for the $250,000 prize, and two unnamed, current contestants decided to leave the show entirely. NBC is reported to be using this drama in a future episode of the show, no doubt in a ploy to boost ratings.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I really haven’t seen a lot of advertising hype for this current season. Perhaps that’s why NBC decided to allegedly create this twist in order to spice up a franchise that, quite frankly, should have never started in the first place.
Fat activists have discussed why TBL is bad news for the cause of Body Acceptance and overall human health numerous times, so I won’t list all the reasons why the show should just die a quick, painless death. But it is interesting that until this latest controversy, TBL really hasn’t seemed to captivate viewers like previous years.
Could it be that more and more people are discovering that shows entirely based around weight loss, intentional dieting and painful exercise is not actually entertainment? I certainly hope so. I’m not a reality show fan to begin with, but, given the choice, I’d rather watch a bunch of housewives getting into catfights in limos than fat people being screamed at by so-called “fitness experts” because they have the audacity to be exhausted by nonstop workouts.
Reaction from the contestant walk-outs has been predictably negative with plenty of fat jokes in the mix. I wonder if the two who decided to leave weren’t fat and weren’t on a weight-loss competition reality show, would they would get more support from those commenting? I can’t blame them for deciding to quit. It really isn’t fair to have people who didn’t make it get a chance to come back and win when you already have a group of contestants in place severely limiting their food intake and exercising like crazy to lose weight and win a lot of money.
You do have to wonder though — if NBC really does bring former contestants back, will they still be thin?
fiercefatties
dufmanno
vesta44
JeninCanada
atchka
erylin
lexiedi
joannadeadwinter
dr deah
shaunta
roundgirlrocks
hlkolaya
lifeonfats
bronwenofhindscroft
osufem
onefabulousmamaistheshiznet
The Smokin' Deist
showmediabetes
drpattiethomas
“I’d rather watch a bunch of housewives getting into catfights in limos than fat people being screamed at by so-called “fitness experts” because they have the audacity to be exhausted by nonstop workouts.”
you don’t find the humiliation and stereotyping of fat people funny so you don’t find it entertaining. likewise I don’t think the humiliation and stereotyping of women should be entertainment either. I really don’t see shows like “real housewives” as any better than shows like “the biggest loser”.
Uh, what I said was a joke. There’s really no reason to get so defensive over that remark.
people make fat jokes all of the time.. calling it a joke doesn’t really make it better. I find those sexist shows extremely offensive.. just as offensive as sizist shows.
I doubt they’d bring them back if they were still thin. But this is an intriguing development. If they bring back contestants who have regained the weight, they leave themselves wide open to attack. Hell, they may as well change the name of the show to The Biggest Weight Cycler.
Peace,
Shannon
WHAT? Something made in Hollywood with a name that says what it actually is? Bite your tongue!
If they’re bringing back contestants who were eliminated, those are the ones who didn’t lose enough weight to be able to stay on the show or to win it, and have probably regained what little they did lose. All that will do is reinforce for the fat-phobic viewers that fat people have no will power and are unable to do anything “right”. And you’re right, it’s a ratings ploy on the part of NBC to draw in more viewers (and I hope it fails miserably).
On sorta kinda the same note - I was flipping channels the other night, looking for something interesting to watch (you’d think with satellite TV there would be something good on TV) and I ran across one of those infomercials for Jillian Michaels’ exercise DVDs. The testimonials were just so unbelievable, I had to laugh. People were talking about how they were losing 7 to 16 lbs a week just by doing her exercises for a half an hour every day (one guy said he lost 75 lbs in 3 mos). I just said “yeah, come back in a couple of years and tell me how that’s workin’ for ya - how much of that weight have you kept off and are you still exercising for half an hour every day?” and went back to flipping channels.
If I had a choice between watching TBL and watching a bunch of catty housewives, I’d turn off the tv.
I have a confession - I actually, in a fit of temporary insanity, auditioned for TBL last year. And THANK GOD I didn’t get on! When the show first appeared it was like a magic show - you saw people work hard and *poof* they miraculously lost weight and achieve happiness. But then, you started to see the illusion blur - Why the mini challenges that involved binge eating junk food? Why did the trainers have to be so mean? Why so much misery in order to be “happy”? Deep down you could hear your voice of Reason and Sanity saying “this isn’t right.” And then it hits you - none of the poor people on the show can accept themselves or be accepted by others until they are thin. None of them were brave enough to try and live their lives until they lost weight. They wouldn’t allow themselves to have any adventures or find any kind of personal joy until they were thin. And they are all stuck in a horribly constricted and rigid diet and exercise system indefinitely. And NBC owns their a** for eternity. TBL is the antithesis of Self Acceptance. It is a nightmare that societal stigma and a contrived vanity obsession disguised as health concern has shamed desperate fatties into volunteering for. It needs, and most definitely deserves, to die.