Netflix’s ‘Insatiable’ review: Offensive mess beyond fat shaming

Netflix

• Netflix’s new series, “Insatiable,” which stirred up
  controversy following the release of its trailer, is even more
  offensive than it at first appears.
• It attempts to tell the story of a teenager who was
  bullied for her weight and wants to get revenge on those who
  wronged her.
• By casting a thin actress in the main role, it fails to
  make its most basic point.

Netflix’s latest original series,
“Insatiable,” is just as upsetting as its trailer. The show
intends to criticize society’s standards of beauty in a satirical
way, but gets completely lost amongst its intentionally and
sensationally offensive content and characters.

When Netflix debuted the trailer
for “Insatiable,” which drops Friday, it immediately stirred
controversy and was accused of fat shaming. The trailer suggests
the show is about a fat teenage girl who loses weight. Now that
she’s skinny, she seeks revenge on her bullies. The trailer
offended many by its casting of Debby Ryan, a thin woman who
wears a fat suit at the start of the series. The casting and
premise seemed to continue the tradition of excluding fat women,
or anyone who doesn’t meet society’s standards for beauty, from
Hollywood — even when it was purporting to tell their
stories.

Netflix execs, actors on the show
(including Alyssa Milano), and its creator Lauren
Gussis urged
people not to judge the show by its trailer. But
unfortunately “Insatiable,” while possibly well-intentioned, does
not make its message clear at all. It thinks it is making a point
about society and beauty by having its characters aggressively
make the opposite point. But it doesn’t work.

To get this confusing message
across, “Insatiable” uses dated cliches. It pits all of its
female characters against each other, makes jokes about statutory
rape and molestation, and is filled with a cast of thin women.
Characters, both male and female, constantly call women words
like “crazy,” “insane,” and “b—-,” and one its main character
calls another woman “a resting anus face of a wife.” But nowhere
does any of this lead to anything, or make any poignant
point.

It’s unclear what ‘Insatiable’ is trying to do or
say.
Netflix

The central story of “Insatiable”
isn’t even Patty, a high-school girl (played by Ryan, who is 25),
getting revenge on those who wronged her. After watching half the
series, that part really only lasts for the first two
episodes. 

Patty’s recent thinness is just
an excuse for the actress to be conventionally attractive enough
to appeal to the masses. Besides Patty’s desire to be even
thinner and therefore more beautiful — so Bob Armstrong (her
40-something-year-old lawyer) will fall in love with her and end
his marriage to a woman Patty constantly calls a
“b—-” — her history with her weight is pretty
much erased. It seems to be used solely as a reminder that this
show is inclusive because its main character used to be fat. This
is not a show about someone who gets back at bullies, it is about
a hot teenager who lusts after an adult man, and a bunch of
people who are horrible to each other.

Dallas Roberts shows some excellent comedic chops, but
he’s one of the only good things about the
series.
Netflix

Dallas Roberts (“The Good Wife”),
who plays Patty’s lawyer; her beauty-pageant coach, played by Bob
Armstrong; and Christopher Gorham (“Ugly Betty”), who plays his
rival; do their best with the material, and bring some levity to
the series. But that’s about it.

I don’t know who “Insatiable” was
made for, but it was certainly not me. After watching six
episodes (of a 12-episode season), that all exceed an agonizing
46 minutes, I feel awful and give up. 

You can watch the trailer for
“Insatiable” below, and watch the entire first season Friday on
Netflix: