Drop Dead Diva is a new series (premiered in August) on Lifetime: a skinny, "dumb blonde" model dies in a car crash, and is reborn in the body of a fat, smart lawyer. Comedy and drama ensue with this ever-so-popular-women-can-be-pigeonholed-for-a-simple-storyline formula.
I must admit--I watch it.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I wanted to talk about the hype and acclaim it's been getting.
A recent article in the NYTimes lauds the series for tackling series issues about body image.
The show's creator is, no surprise, a man, who tells the Times "I don't believe it[weight] is about willpower"--score one for the fatties! However, while he appears to get it right at first, he quickly falls into: "Everyone has different needs and desires. If someone finds a doughnut to be comforting, who are we to judge them?" He somehow manages to turn being fat into some kind of coping mechanism--which we see often on DDD as the protagonist's assistant sprays cheez-wiz into her boss' mouth in a time of panic--that fat people all eat to deal with stress. He kind of counteracts his positive statement with this judgmental one; it's hypocritical to say weight is not about willpower in the same breath that you say doughnuts are like baby blankets. There's something fishy about claiming autonomy/agency, while also turning food into a dysfunction. And plus--weight isn't about "junk food." Eating doughnuts doesn't make you fat, and not every fat person eat doughnuts.
Of course, the Times uses the term "obesity" several times throughout
the article. (The preferred word in fat community is, well, fat. No
hidden judgment calls, no scientific emphasis. Just what it is--fat.)
There are also other buzz words in the article like "overweight" and
"larger than average."
The actress who plays the fat, smart lawyer is herself a very talented singer and actress from Broadway, Brooke Elliott . Of course, though she is fat, the character she plays is still white, upper middle class, and educated. In an interview
with TV Guide, Elliott tells the interviewer a few of her favorite TV
shows, including The Biggest Loser. That was disappointing.
The premise of the show also bothers me a bit: why did the skinny model
soul survive, while the fat smart lawyer soul disappear forever? Though
the body represented is fat, it seems as though the message is the
skinny girl got to live. What we see as viewers is life of the skinny
girl unfolding--we see her old boyfriends, her struggles with
confidence, and her family. Is the fat body being objectified?
Fortunately, DDD does have some positive aspects. Margaret Cho
costars, and of course there is fat visibility on the whole. But some
storylines (such as the skinny model soul encounters the fat lawyer's
past flames and gags with disgust) still rub me the wrong way.
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Yeah, I read that nytimes article---I also took issue with the "different bodies desire different food" line.
No, different bodies have different metabolisms---also, different cultures have different foods.
And plus--weight isn't about "junk food." Eating doughnuts doesn't make you fat,
Think junk food might have the tinsiest weensiest influence?
lol
I'm so glad someone has written about this. I watch this show too and can never decide what to think.
On the one hand, one of my happiest tv-watching moments came when Deb/jane discovered that she was smart. she did a whole celbratory dance and whatever. and i really think it is interesting to watch the dynamic between deb/jane and stacey, her best friend who still is thin and a model. they have done a good job of not backing away from how deb/jane's appearance changing has changed their friendships in some ways because of society's preconceived notions about fat people.
however, it is not without major flaws. the entire love story (deb before dying had a fiance who now works with her). basically we are supposed to assume that even though this guy is great he will reject deb/jane in her new body. because she is fat. even though she has her old personality and he is supposed to be this selfless guy blah blah blah. so they also REALLY play that up. her best friend, with time is getting used to deb in jane's body so why can't he?
i have to disagree about the why on who's soul got to stay. deb was sent to be in jane's body because she hadn't done good or evil. jsut looking back on jane's life you can see she did a lot of good. so she got to go to heaven. that's problematic in a different way because why can deb be good in one body and not in another? because she knows she has to or because we see a fat woman and think of her as matron/motherly? or is it because she is smarter? that's what i don't get.
the creator sounds like an idiot, but i do there there IS some real merit to the show. obviously it would be better to have this wonderful talented actress in a lead role where weight isn't a major focus, but it is still interesting to watch deb in jane's body. she still has her model attitude and doesn't accept that everyone else assumes she is going to be timid and self conscious, because she isn't. and i don't think we get to see that enough.
His quote is a gross generalization.
What his characters do in the series, is an individual characters story.
It seems that the memories of the model and the lawyer have melded, are the memories part of the "soul"?