By Grace Baldino, news editor
Belle was headstrong, Jasmine wasn’t going to be sold to her husband, Esmerelda didn’t need a man to be truly happy, Moana was persistent and determined, Anna was a princess who actually ate food in the movie, and Elsa saved her sister with true love. With so many empowering messages in the media and movies currently, you would think that it can only get better from here. But unfortunately, the creators of Netflix’s newest coming of age tv show prove that things can get worse. A lot worse.
When a fat girl who is kind of a jerk gets into a fist fight with a homeless guy who tried to steal her candy, no one seems to pay attention. However that same fat girl, after three months with her jaw wired shut because the homeless guy punched back and broke said jaw, losses all her fat. The power of an all liquid diet! She gets a lawyer who was ruined over a sexual harassment scandal, in order to get off innocent of assault and then sue a homeless person and of course the fat-now skinny girl falls ‘in love’ with married, disgraced lawyer, also an ex beauty pageant coach, who turns her into a beauty pageant queen.
Totally normal stuff, not to mention she is trying to date the son of her lawyer and ‘lover’ while becoming more of an annoying, whinny, severely unlikeable jerk who ditches her best friend even though her bff is in love with her. While all of that is going on, her mom who is an alcoholic, is really bad at being a mom. Remember the disgraced lawyer? His wife is trying to break up the marriage of another couple so she can divorce her lawyer husband and marry the ‘perfect man’ just because he is hot and in order to impress him, she tries to sleep with him, however he is gay so that doesn’t work.
If you are asking yourself what you just read, that was the basic plot line for Insatiable, a newer Netflix show starring Debby Ryan. It is just about as bad as you think.
Linda Holmes, who covers entertainment for NPR, watched 12 episodes of the show and pronounced it “mean and offensive, with juvenile humor that insults not only overweight people, but anyone with moral sensibilities.”
For example, one teenage boy in the show is having an affair with another girl’s mother. While also trying to get back together with his legal aged ex-girlfriend.
“This story is treated as extremely funny, and the mother as gloriously trashy, and nobody seems too terribly concerned about the fact that it involves an adult having sex with a minor,” Holmes wrote.
According to the Business Insider review by Carrie Wittmer, “Netflix’s new show Insatiable is an offensive mess that goes way beyond fat shaming.”
However Alyssa Milano, an actress on the show, defended the show and said, “We are not shaming Patty. We are addressing (through comedy) the damage that occurs from fat shaming. I hope that clears it up.”
But who in their right mind would use something that scars people for life as COMEDY?!
Despite my opinions and plenty of people like me, who also hate this show, people seem to really do have short term memory. Remember 13 Reasons Why? Everyone on Reddit seemed to hate it when the trailer was released. Petitions were signed to cancel it. And it became one of the most popular tv shows on any streaming service.
Just like 13 Reasons Why, with the mentally incompetent fanbase of this piss-poor excuse of a show, the outrage generated sent Insatiable flying into the uppermost levels of undeserved popularity. They have the opportunity to bring to light, topics that are very sensitive but need to be talked about such as molestation, rape, kidnapping, murder, homophobia, bullying, and sexism, but uses the instances for laughs. Well I ain’t laughing, Netflix! This show does so much more than offend. It sets back any positive message sent to girls anywhere, ever.
Some of my favorite lines are: “Keep trannies out of the ladies room.” “He touched her hoo-hoo.”  “No one cares about the fatties or the homeless.” “Pretty girls don’t have to settle.” “He is a child molester! Which means I might have a shot.” “Lay off the chips. It is a lot of swallowing, even for you.” “This testimony isn’t just about facts, it’s about seduction.” “She looks like an underaged hooker.” “ Are you done or is your tan more important than saving people’s anusses from cancer!” “Captain Dildacorn” “Bob Bajina Barnyard.” “ I wanted to rip his fingernails out one by one but I had to come up with something less crazy. I’m gonna screw that guy.” “Can I call you daddy?” “Skinny is magic.”