Netflix's New Show 'Insatiable' Is Being SLAMMED For Fat Shaming

20 July 2018, 17:04

By Katie Louise Smith

The new series from Netflix, starring Debby Ryan hasn't gone down with fans on the internet AT ALL.

The trailer for Netflix's brand new dark comedy Insatiable has already caused HUGE backlash online after floods of people on Twitter called it out for 'fat shaming'.

The Debby Ryan-led series hadn't even been out for a full 24 hours before the internet descended onto the trailer to condemn the problematic stereotyping and toxic body image messages it appeared to portray within the trailer.

Insatiable is about Patty, a self-proclaimed 'fat girl' (played by Ryan, in a fat suit) who has her jaw wired shut in order to lose weight. When she finds herself suddenly thin, Patty sets out for payback against anyone who has ever made her feel bad about herself. "Having my jaw wired shut lost me more than just my summer vacation," Patty says in the trailer. "Now, I could be the former fatty who turned into a brain. Or an athlete. Or a princess. No — I'd rather have revenge."

People are now calling out Netflix for promoting toxic body image stereotypes along with the problematic notion that being overweight is undesirable while being skinny and beautiful makes you... well, desirable AF. People are also pointing out how the concept of revenge is also pretty toxic.

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Cast members Debby Ryan and Alyssa Milano have spoken out against the backlash in defence of the show and have explained how the story is meant to be interpreted. The pair also referred back to a Teen Vogue article which details the show's plot and intended message straight from the creator Lauren Gussis.

Gussis also told Teen Vogue that the story of Insatiable is based off her own experiences growing up. She says Patty is essentially the demon of her "inner formerly bullied teenager."

"I really felt like it was important to look at [bullying] head on and talk about it. And what are young women and, frankly, young men taught about appearance and how much appearance matters and whether it's OK to look different and it's OK to be different, and the feeling of ‘not enough’ which kind of leads through all of the characters. Because every single character in this show has a hole that they're trying to fill and they're insatiable for something whether it be validation or love, or money or power."

"This is my expression of my own process. My own pain. And so I would never mock myself in a way that wasn't loving," Lauren adds. "It's my way of sharing my own experience with the world. So it's not coming from an outsider's perspective pointing a finger, it's from inside."

Season one of Insatiable will drop on Netflix on August 10.