A new show is about to start on Oz TV called, Bringing Sexy Back. From the ads it appears to be a program which has found once attractive / slim peeps who’ve gained a heap of weight and somehow helps them lose the excess weight to again become ‘sexy’. Apparently.
There are SO many things wrong with this concept that I don’t know where to start.
Firstly – the assumption that not-slim / overweight / fat people cannot be sexy pisses me off. Even though – in my warped thinking I tend to agree that chubby peeps need to lose weight to be perceived as sexy. Or attractive. Or – at least – not unattractive or released into the wild.
And then… I’m intrigued by the ‘overhaul’. Is it gonna be a year or two of focus on body image issues and sustainable changes to eating and exercise?
I doubt it. I’m yet to see the show, but I suspect it’s a few months (or less!) of hard core exercise and minimal calories in order to get the show’s ‘stars’ looking (what’s perceived to be) halfway decent.
On top of that, they seem to have only chosen peeps who have a story. And yes, I know, I’ve watched The Biggest Loser – it’s all about the backstory. Former athlete, former model, dad worried about not being around for his kids. Yadda yadda yadda.
And finally – the thing that pisses me off the most. THAT THEY DIDN’T CHOOSE ME!
#FFS… I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t scrub up too badly if I could drop 50kg or so. And – HELLO?! – single and in my mid 40s? Can MY life story get any more pathetic? I think not!
It’s unlikely I’ll watch the new show when it airs as I’ll either: want to throw something at my television because of its inaneness and the fact it makes anyone who’s less-than-perfect feel like crap; or it’ll make me feel like crap for not having the motivation to make similarly BIG changes in my life.
Would you appear in a ‘makeover’ type TV show? Or a reality TV show of any kind?
Where do you stand on weight-loss shows?
PS. In other news I was interested in this piece about the ‘thin privilege’. As a very chubby (ie. fat) person I could relate.
I’m again linking up with the Monday LaughLink gang.
Diet Schmiet 
Hi Deb! The only dieting/transformation program I’ve really followed is a Finnish tv series where people typically lose 30/40 kgs in 6 months with a fitness diet and lots of exercise. Sometimes I don’t know why I watch because it’s very repetitive. I’ve never really liked Biggest Loser or Extreme Weight loss or their Finnish versions.
I think the only format I’d really like is the one where the participants dance their weight away. I could totally salsa away my extra fat!:)
I actually think the big life changes are a myth.
I’m soon going to publish a weight loss story featuring my younger sister Hanna who has lost 8 kilos (she gained ~10 kilos when she got her 2 kids) in three years. That probably doesn’t sound very impressive but she did it very gradually and didn’t “diet” at all. She started by adding exercise back to her life and making some small changes to her diet. In my opinion she’s light years ahead of the peeps who lose the same 8 kgs at least two times a year indefinitely. And I think my sister is probably not going to regain her weight because she didn’t make any drastic changes that don’t really fit into her life.
Sorry for my blabbering, I’m just so excited about her story. And of course I wish I can be in her shoes some day…..
Oh Satu, Hanna’s story is great! And yes, although I’m yet to see what this show offers (and probably won’t watch it) I’m not sure it will be about making sustainable life changes!
I’m just waiting for someone to develop a pill which successfully prevents fatty cells forming. Chocolate and burgers, woo hoo!:)
Oh yes, me too!
You’d be much better off watching The Bachelor. It’s so much fun seeing slim, sexy, beautiful women act so utterly ridiculously.It doesn’t matter how pretty the package is, if the inside has no substance it’s not worth the bother.
Oh yes Char, very true! I’ve seen the ads… but I do note there are no ‘bigger’ women on those shows ever! Wonder if the bachelor in question would feel compelled to leave the chubbier girl in (so he wasn’t judged as superficial)!
The show sounds awful but then most reality TV is. They focus on the exterior and rarely mention intrinsic qualities which make people nice, interesting (or sexy in this case). There’s always the public humiliation element too, which obviously makes for good viewing…the old schadenfreude – delighting in others’ pain.
You’re better than that Debs 🙂 (love the meme!!!)
Oh yes… I love a good (sarcastic!) meme!
At least (as far as I know) this show isn’t based around a competition – so it has one thing going for it!
I can’t understand why people would want to display their problems on TV, this is going to be around forever. What if their problems come back multifold or don’t go away in the first place? Then they’ll have reminders on TV and in their scrapbooks until kingdom come, not my idea of fun.
You’re much better than that, Deb. Focus on the inner you not the outer.
I think I only like the concept of someone else taking responsibility for my weightloss. Which of course is completely inappropriate and why I can’t lose weight in the first place! 🙂
I felt like throwing something at the TV just during the ads. I can’t imagine watching the entire show. As you say it’s just WRONG. But there must be people who love watching all this stuff..*blinks* That meme made laugh, though. Thanks for the giggles. xo
A pleasure Ness. x
You know the funny thing about reality train wreck TV? No one admits to watching it, but it rates really well.
Do you think there will there be a plastic surgery component, al la The Swan? *shudder*
Oh god…. not sure. We’ve only seen glimpses in the ads but I gather there is a makeover component.
That meme is hilarious! So wrong in so many ways, such a weird world we live in!!! I wonder who gets paid to come up with these ideas.
I don’t know. When I googled the show I notice there was a casting call at some point. I wonder if – for the first season – producers pick people they know etc…
I agree – so wrong in so many ways. They need to have a show that tells us what happens to these contestants down the track when they no longer have camera crew around them for motivation and airbrushing!! x
Exactly! Or even one that follows people around for a year or something (not every moment obvs – just checking in fortnightly or monthly or something) to show their progress and changes they’ve made. Something a bit supportive or nurturing. Guess it would take too long to make and not be ‘good’ tv!
I don’t watch very many reality TV shows. Maybe some of the singing contests. It’s just cheap television. No wonder there’s so much illegal downloading going on with the shite we have to put up with.
True. I watch some of the singing shows also. And So You Think You Can Dance! Vaguely talent-based… I tell myself!
I would absolutely never go on one of those shows, but they do have a certain car crash appeal sometimes. I used to like the Gok Wan version of ‘How to look good naked’. It was always very inclusive of all different shapes and sizes. I’m a bit like you though – in principle I think absolutely anyone can be sexy, but personally I’d still feel better if I lost a few kgs. We women are our own worst enemies I think!
Oh yes I’m fairly sure we are!
Depressingly, this is the kind of shallow bilge I will no doubt find myself watching, despite all my best intentions. Ironically, I almost wrote “bulge” instead of “bilge” and I can’t blame autocorrect this time….
A Freudian slip!
I can’t remember now what it was called, or whether it was only on TV in Canada when I lived there for a year, but there was a British show where they piled all the food a family ate in a week onto a table and the whole idea was that it was disgusting. And it was when you looked at it – huge displays of gluttony and enough to make you want to puke on the spot. It was gross, but sort of engrossing. And they probed into the people’s ‘insides’ and I guess really focused on the health issues that bad diet (and often lack of exercise as well) was doing. I have never really watched these reality diet shows before, but somehow this one was compelling in that the dietician was trying to deliver a massive, and very confronting, wake up call, to a whole family (not singling out an individual). I’d love to know if the participants genuinely made long-term life changes. Does anyone know this program?
Doesn’t sound familiar to me, but I have stumbled across a few on late night television at times!
Deb
What the hell are they trying to do to the young of today? It annoys me that beauty and sexiness is often attributed to slim people and porn stars!!!!!! I hate reality TV anyway, and TV, except ABC and SBS but there’s lot of voyeurs who dig that shit, not me. Thanks for linking x
Will be interesting to see how the show fares!
Ugh, I HATE weight loss shows! I always worry that these poor people who aren’t used to working out are being pushed too hard and could have a heart attack. Plus they do all these crazy things that a normal person in their everyday life could never incorporate into their lifestyle, which is why so much of the weight loss is short lived. It’s all for ratings and it’s sad.
Having said that, if it motivates people then that’s a good thing I guess 🙂
I suspect it motivates some but makes others feel worse… Wondering why they aren’t as successful (forgetting they don’t have trainers etc at their beck and call!).