fat actress?

[keryx]

You're probably exactly the wrong crowd to ask this question, given that I'm probably more of a teevee watcher than all y'all put together. But I'll ask anyhow: any of you seen Fat Actress?

We don't have Showtime, and I was honestly not all that interested [I really don't care for Kirstie Alley, and she has never been a candidate for big fat media icon in my book.], but with all the kerfuffle in the fat activist community about it, I went ahead and watched the damned pilot on Yahoo (available via the BFB post on the topic).

My verdict: It is ass. But just because it's a truly, truly stupid (and thus, in my mind, also unfunny) piece of badly acted schtick. I really do think it's supposed to parody the ridiculous race, gender and size stereotypes it presents; it's like Chris Rock, but less incisive and smart. A lot of other fat activists have been really offended as they watched the show, though - very hurt and defensive in their responses to the stereotypes (you know, fat lady eating cheeseburgers in her pjs in her car kinds of things). Is it because fat is such a contentious area? Because the stereotypes people accept as truth about fat folk are so ridiculous already that you can't really go over the top enough to make it clearly parody? Or just because the show's so patently not funny?

I don't know, but clearly it's not as dismissable a show as I thought.. What do you think?

Comments

[missmeridian.livejournal.com]

i now want a cheeseburger.

actually, i was kinda hoping twop would recap it, since there's no way i would actually watch it. but they aren't.

[kdiddy.livejournal.com]

given that I'm probably more of a teevee watcher than all y'all put together

actually, you and I are probably neck and neck. I watch more tv than anyone I know.

I don't have Showtime, though, so I haven't seen Fat Actress.

[deadpoet83.livejournal.com]

I tried to watch the pilot, but it made my head hurt about four minutes into it. I don't know...I just couldn't stand her over the top bawling.

[lil-ms-drama.livejournal.com]

I guess I didn't mind it too much partially because it was improvised and I'm really big (no pun intended) into improv.

It is sad, though, that we have to point out that she's fat and not just do a show about an actress.