Netflix’s ‘Insatiable’ Fat-Shames Without a Message
August 23, 2018
By definition, “insatiable” means unable to be satisfied—and Netflix’s newest original series “Insatiable” is sure to leave the viewer unsatisfied with plot, characters, morals, issues and everything else.
Patty Bladell (Debby Ryan) was given the title of “Fatty Patty” in high school and was bullied for being overweight by her peers. She goes through her rough day as usual until her crush helps her up from falling down; she gets the courage to ask him out and blatantly gets rejected.
Bob Armstrong (Dallas Roberts) was a successful lawyer but as a hobby he coached teens for beauty pageants. Armstrong fails to help his contestant win against his long time enemy Bob Barnard (Christopher Gorham) which leads to the fateful event of the contestant’s mother falsely accusing Armstrong of sexual misconduct with her daughter.
Both Patty and Bob’s paths end up crossing when Patty is in need of a lawyer.
The big reveal of the show is when “Fatty Patty” lost all of her weight due to an incident where her jaw was broken for three months and now somehow she is so gorgeous she is unrecognizable to some of her peers that bullied her.
That isn’t even the most unrealistic part.
Patty and Bob use one another to feed their— insatiable— desires. For Patty, she grows an addiction to seeking revenge on those who have hurt her because of her weight, but not in the way you would expect. Her new skinny body is the weapon…in every episode.
Alyssa Milano, who plays Coralee Armstrong, addressed the much talked about controversy of the show being “fat-shaming.”
“(The show is addressing through comedy) the damage that occurs from fat shaming.” Milano said in an interview with Teen Vogue.
However, the comedy in the show leaves a bad taste. A serious false accusation is made that ruins someone’s whole career and it becomes a running joke.
“The creator Lauren Gussis’s approach seems to have been to throw as many inflated, controversial plot points as possible against the wall to see what sticks,” Eleanor Stanford said in the New York Times.
Bob hopes that Patty’s new skinniness is his entry back into the pageant industry, but his wife doesn’t want people noticing he is working with kids again because of his bad reputation.
The jokes fall short of being funny; even though things can be said doesn’t mean they should be. The purposeful fake southern accents run towards the direction of mocking rather than obnoxious. The comedy is nonexistent.
The overall show has high production value and unique cinematic shots but it is a shame the plot could not be as successful. Though “Insatiable” has only released ten episodes, reaching the quality this show needs won’t be easy.