If you decided to sign the petition urging Netflix to cancel its new Debby Ryan series Insatiable, accusing the show of body-shaming, honestly, shame on you.
The petition has already racked up more than 120,000 signatures from people who are doing nothing but overreacting as they haven’t even seen the show — it doesn’t premiere on the streaming platform until Friday, August 10th.
And while trailers can be a good tease for a show, they aren’t the definitive source for what a program might be, or include, or promote. But sadly, trailers, specifically the ones for projects addressing women’s bodies, sure seem to cause a lot of unnecessary outrage.
When the trailer for Amy Schumer’s latest film I Feel Pretty hit the internet, the internet hit back. Apparently, it was too hard to believe that a woman who looks like Amy Schumer (blonde, white, straight-size) could ever feel insecure about her body. Hell, even Schumer’s character Renee was appalled that Emily Ratajkowski’s Mallory would EVER in a million years feel insecure about anything (hint: she does!).
However, a literal glance at Schumer’s mentions, on any social media platform, proves why any other woman in her position would need a solid head injury to feel remotely confident in their appearance. People, society, the internet: none of those things are designed to make women feel good about themselves, specifically their appearance.
But I, just like her sneaky sexy love interest played by Rory Scovel in the film, enjoyed watching a leading lady with a little bit of jiggle — both when it made her feel bad about herself (relate much?) and when she believed, rightfully, that she is gorgeous (aspire much?). But who needs to even see a film when you can simply hop on Twitter and spew outrage onto the internet about a damn premise alone?
And now the same thing, only stronger, is happening with Insatiable. Oh look, more outrage over women’s bodies — how original! But why exactly does the internet get so uncontrollably angry about TV shows and movies that address the appearance of female bodies without even seeing the projects in the first place? Because guess what? We ARE judged by our bodies! And maybe, just maybe, acknowledging that is the first step to changing it — but turning to the internet and attempting to stop TV shows from even being seen, is not.
I’m not saying that once these petition-signers watch this show, they will love it. Oh hell no. They’ve already made up their minds, they hate it, and they won’t even do the show the solid of sitting through its first 42-minute episode with a halfway open mind. Because if that were the case, they’d see that this is a show tackling actual, real thoughts that so many of us have. That a show about a woman’s body is even being made shows some progress in 2018 — even if you think it just might not be the way you want it to be told.
So the answer is … a petition? So funny, I don’t remember one of those circulating when the 13 Reasons Why trailer dropped, a show that is actually very dangerous and not simply offensive. You know, I don’t even remember one of those when Monica (Courteney Cox) put on a fat suit on Friends or when Schmidt (Max Greenfield) did it on New Girl — and both of those characters were forced to DANCE. But now that there’s a glimpse of Ryan wearing one while walking down the halls of a high school, that’s too much?
— debbyryan (@DebbyRyan) July 21, 2018
I’ll let you know right away that Insatiable is not a perfect show. There’s plenty to pick apart (oh, and it will be), but there are also elements designed to be wacky and funny, and, get this: even motivating and encouraging and relatable and inspiring. Being a human being in a body (especially a woman) is complex. If a dark comedy wants to address this particular situation, let’s maybe see how they do it exactly before losing our shit over it. We all struggle with body issues: sometimes we don’t feel adequate or we do feel judged and that sucks. And if you don’t love decisions being made about you from your appearance alone, maybe a very simple place to start would be to not do the same to others, even TV show trailers.
You shouldn’t watch anything you don’t want to, particularly if it’s going to make you feel bad. This is why I no longer watch the news. But it doesn’t hurt to consider that this unique story that is being told just might have the opposite effect on someone else, that it could be just the show that makes someone leave their house feeling extra hot or special or ready to take on the world — which is already hard enough as it is. And if you’re really looking to capture that feeling too, pay someone a compliment today. That will do a lot more good than any petition.
Lea Palmieri on Twitter
This story originally appeared on Decider and is republished here with permission.
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