Fed Up Movie Review: When I first saw the trailer for the documentary Fed Up, I became frustrated and anticipated the barrage of anti-obesity
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Drop Dead Diva Review: Season 1 (Netflix)
Drop Dead Diva Season 1 Review: This show has blown my mind in such a positive way.
So, here’s the gist of the premise: Deb Dobkins is a thin and conventionally attractive model who dies in a car crash on her way to audition to be a prize model on the Price is Right; Jane Bingum is a fat lawyer who is shot in her office by someone intending to kill her boss. Due to a kerfuffle at the gates of Heaven, Deb’s soul is returned to Earth, but…wait for it… in the body of Jane Bingum. This is so hah-hah funny because Deb is a model and Jane, being fat, is probably the worst thing that could happen to her (sigh). Let’s get over sad this set up is, shall we?
I have to say this show does not shy away from tackling the complex issues related to being a fat woman in America. Instead of focusing on Shallow-Hal-like depictions of fatness that are one-dimensional, offensive and unproductive, Drop Dead Diva tackles things like sizeism, the pitfalls and dangers of dieting, the absurdity of clothing stores like A&F and the popular conflation of thin and healthy.
While Jane seems to work for a corporate defense, she takes on cases defending the underdog as well as suing on behalf of the underdog (I don’t think this is a realistic depiction of law firms, but let’s run with it).
Drop Dead Diva: Weight Loss Themes
Here are some of the awesome fat-focused themes introduced in DDD (*spoiler alert* these will tell you all the juicy stuff that happens, so read at your own risk!):
- The
Unacceptable Levels Movie Review (Documentary)
Unacceptable Levels Documentary Review: There’s a new documentary out that I wanted to share with you called Unacceptable Levels. This documentary delves into the issue of synthetic
Why It’s Okay to Be Fat Review (TED Talk)
Why It’s Okay to Be Fat Review: Golda of Body Love Wellness gave a TEDx talk called, “Why It’s Okay to Be Fat,” which you can watch below.Misconceptions:
Golda did such a wonderful job explaining why dieting is harmful and why body shaming is harmful. Her solution: instead of weight loss, why not focus on healthful behaviors? Contrary to popular belief, focusing on healthful behaviors is more healthful for people of all sizes than attempting to lose weight. [see here for evidence-based research]
It is a reality check for me to read through the video comments and see the horrible and disheartening comments left by innumerable people exhibiting these common misconceptions EVEN after hearing Golda give such a well-researched talk:
Misconceptions:
1) Fat (however this person defines it) cannot be compatible with health.
Truth: Fat can absolutely be compatible with health. We have reputable evidence to prove that overweight and even class 1 obesity can be fully compatible with health AND even protective in clinical cases. Did you know that overweight bodies have lower rates of mortality than normal weight (by BMI standards) across the board?!
Did you know the underweight population, while a very small group, actually have the same # of deaths combined as do obese people? But you won’t hear people rallying against our underweight population. Why? [more on this to come in my documentary; for now, watch Dr. Saguy’s talk on why we frame fatness as a crisis when it’s much more complex than that & question perhaps ask if obesity is the peppered moth of the mobile age]
If you are looking for an evidence-based way to live healthfully, I recommend the Health At Every Size(R) approach.