Fat as Spectacle

Fatness has been seen as a freak-show phenomenon since the late 18^th century and early 19^th century. “Fat Dan” was an attraction featured in Piccadilly’s “Hall of Wonders” in London during the late 18^th century. Daniel Lambert (“Fat Dan”) weighed 900 pounds, supposedly the fattest man of that time. His fatness drew a crowd because it was so “rare,” “odd,” and differed greatly from “the norm.”

Living in the 21^st century the very concept of fatness as a spectacle in the sense described above, seems a bit far-fetched. In Fat Shame, Amy Farrell modernizes this concept to television shows such as The Biggest Loser. The Biggest Loser is a television show that has many variations around the world in various countries. In the United States, The Biggest Loser features overweight contestants who are competing against one another in an attempt to lose the most weight for a cash prize. These contestants have been brainwashed to believe that the people on the show are mainly concerned with helping them transform their bodies in order to live a healthier lifestyle. If that were the case, why would the show be a competition? Wouldn’t it just be a show following the journey these individuals and their efforts to reach that healthy lifestyle? Granted the summary of The Biggest Loser seems more beneficial than harmful but after hearing in Shaw’s Bodies in American Culture class, how the show is actually executed, it is clear that this is definitively not the case. Apparently, contestants are weighed on this absurdly huge scale wearing practically nothing, in front of a crowd. Contestants endure verbal abuse as “encouragement” to strive to lose more and more weight. To me, this sounds like these people are being made a mockery of. Various aspects of the show are just unnecessary for The Biggest Loser to be healthy for contestants.

These bodies featured in The Biggest Loser and other shows similar to, are ultimately exposed and undignified in an effort to attract an audience that will inevitably bring higher ratings to the show. They exploit the “embarrassment of the fat body- how it literally and figuratively does not fit in with the built environment of chairs, doors, and vehicles, and with the world of other “normal-sized” people" (Farrell, 34). Take a look at the before and after picture of a previous contestant on the show. In the before picture this women looks ashamed and miserable and in the after picture she looks like she couldn't be happier. Viewers are engaged because of the pre-conceived, socially constructed notion that fat is so much different and abnormal for the “average person.” These shows continue to encourage the mind-set for every person fat or thin, that “fat is bad” and that if a person is fat they must be ashamed and act quickly to change their fat image.

Our society has put this label on fat that it is a terrible attribute, is not acceptable, and actions must be made at once to rid it from existence. Millions of viewers tune in weekly to watch contestants battle to become “The Biggest Loser.” It is unfortunate that the media ultimately profits by exploiting people who struggle with their fat identity. It makes me wonder, “What is the psychological impact that shows such as The Biggest Loser have on people who are fat? Do these shows impact skinny people as well? If so, in what way?”