More to Love

After years of avoiding shows like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, etc., I finally fell and watched at least several episodes of More to Love. I'm going to blame Jezebel.com for this because their snarky criticism of Puke/Luke and the producers of the show for having close ups of greasy food and planning dates where bathing suits were involved....I couldn't help it.

Well, last night was the finale. And now I remember why I will never again watch a show like this. The girl who was not chosen was heart broken. Was she really in it for love? I have no idea. Will Luke and the Israeli girl, who is absolutely stunning, stay together? No idea there either.

But I felt like the whole show was really the shows that I already hated that jumped on the "Fat Tv" bandwagon. There was a clan of desperate girls who were eager to land a well off man and were insecure because of whatever. The whatever this time was "I'm Fat." The majority of these women, while overweight, were total stunners.

Lately, there have been a lot of articles talking about "Fat TV" and why it's so popular. The Biggest Loser (which also started last week and awaits me on my DVR tonight). Some theories are that America is sick of seeing people who don't represent who they are (a tiny percentage of people look like the girls on The Hills or whatever is popular now) and there's an ever increasing percentage of overweight and obese Americans--especially those who fit in the age demographic that the producers of More to Love/The Bachelor/Bachelorette, etc.

Is it because people feel they can look down on others that they want to watch these fat shows? Or is it, as I hope, is it that people enjoy seeing other overcome struggles that are similar to their own? Like I said, many people in this country struggle with their weight at dangerous levels (I'm not talking those extra 5 pounds we all want to lose), and something like The Biggest Loser shows them that it truly is possible, though perhaps not in the same manner.

As far as More to Love...everyone can find love, but I don't think it takes or should take a TV show that combined trend with horrible dating show to prove to young women (and men) that you can find someone to love you for who you are.

Anyway.

Suffice to say, I love the Biggest Loser, mostly because, even though I disagree with losing 100+ pounds in however many weeks that is (I only support it if you're literally at the point where you could die or incur a weight related serious health issue ie. diabetes), I think it's a transformative process that not only changes the participants lives, but the lives of their families, and potentially, the lives of those watching the show. Or maybe that's just me being overly positive. Who knows.

And it means that I can't stand More to Love because it's not about "positive self image" (though I think it probably had that effect without it intending to for some people)--it's about pointing out "WOW even though you're FAT (here, get in this swim suit), you found LOVE! OMG NO WAY!!!" These women were beautiful inspite of being over weight--not just beautiful because they were beautiful (and believe me, these women were knock out).

I have no idea what the conclusion of this post is coming to, probably because I'm multitasking. But anyway. Can't we all just celebrate women being beautiful and end this stick thin thing? There are hints of change...but will it stick?