Fat Actress
It turns out you can watch the first episode on a free Internet feed. I haven't seen it yet, but feel free to post your thoughts in the comments.
One review points out some race-based humor that might be offensive to some:
"Alley's assistants decide all she needs to wash away her blues is a black man - since, of course, they all love 'ample rump.' They don't reach that conclusion until they rule out Alley's other sexual possibilities, which include (in order) Alley's effeminate male assistant, other women and women with guys' names. Given the company, that's not quite a ringing endorsement for the African-American sex pool."
One review points out some race-based humor that might be offensive to some:
"Alley's assistants decide all she needs to wash away her blues is a black man - since, of course, they all love 'ample rump.' They don't reach that conclusion until they rule out Alley's other sexual possibilities, which include (in order) Alley's effeminate male assistant, other women and women with guys' names. Given the company, that's not quite a ringing endorsement for the African-American sex pool."
posted by mo pie at 9:25 AM
6 Comments:
I was looking forward to this show, but ended up finding it oddly depressing. Maybe it'll get better with subsequent episodes, I don't know.
My opinion is it's pretty much a gimic. Kirstie nor the executives at Showtime give one hoot about plus sized women. I'd have more respect for Kirstie if she could look herself in the mirror and say "I'm FAT! So what! I don't need to lose weight to get a job." But who am I kidding?
What a travesty of a show Fat Actress is! I was looking forward to this show, thinking that Kirstie would create a more realistic and sensitive show. She has none of the class that I think Oprah displays. For Kirstie to even subject herself to the premise of the script is disgraceful. Hasn’t she a shred of self-respect? Is Kirstie truly this neurotic, shallow and intemperate? If so, it becomes very clear to me why she has developed a weight problem, and she would do well to forget about Jenny Craig and get a damned good therapist. We are about to see another celebrity fad-diet failure ala Oprah’s debacle with Opti-Fast. Thankfully, Oprah got in touch with Bob Greene and herself. I wonder if Kirstie will ever make that journey. From what Im seeing with this Fat Actress show, its not looking promising. Kirstie, get your act together. This show is demeaning to heavy women. The real world does NOT respond so brusquely to heavy women, either to their faces or otherwise, and a great many men, of ALL colors either find heavy women attractive, or are capable of appreciating a woman based on her many other characteristics beyond her physical appearance. I am larger than Kirstie and I am not nearly as neurotic, nor as beautiful ( a fact she clearly overlooks) and people do not snicker, raise their eyebrows and generally whisper rude remarks wherever I go, and I do not sob and drag myself across the floor of the living room, nor do I scoff down hamburgers in parking lots. There is a scene where Kirstie is walking through a corporate office building and everyone is staring and whispering. This is simply so unrealistic. Does Kirstie believe this really happens? A better approach would have been an imaginary sequence of this happening, with the understanding that Kirstie THINKS that’s what certainly is happening, and then the reality of people pretty much going about their business barely noticing her at all. THAT would be funny, because it would be an honest look at how I and other heavy women think sometimes when neurosis gets the better of us! What a shame. Theres a golden opportunity to create a funny yet compassionate show that helps other people to understand the REAL struggles that many heavy women go through. All that Ive seen so far are demeaning stereotypes and a character I would loathe and feel pity for if I met her. If I met the character Kirstie is portraying I would say – Stop your pity-party and have a little self-respect! Youre such a mess because you hate yourself, not because youre fat. I hope Kirstie has an awakening soon, or Fat Actress is going to go the way of Veronica’s Closet very quickly, and it will be a relief to see such offensive tripe off the airways. It could be that Kirstie is incapable of truly portraying the struggles of us mortal humans who don’t drive luxury sports cars and who don’t live in a gated estate. It could be that Kirstie is entirely out of touch with us normal types. She may be more comfortable conversing with Paris Hilton than with any of us.
The previous commenters here sound like they have their own issues. I give 2 thumbs up (and more if I had any) to this show. The reason for my being in favour of the show is she can actually laugh at herself, whisch seems as though none of the previous commenters can do. Obviously none of you can look beyound your own fatness and see how much courage it can take to publically admit to your inadequacies in public, especially in a career of acting, where fat is treated as a 'retard in high society'. The mere fact that she even managed to get a show is a testiment to how determined she is to show that fat is trivial. Kirstie is a great actress and she was very entertaining regardelss of her size. So it seems you are the ones that cannot accept your own size and bash her for living in reality. Perhaps for YOU it is okay to be fat, but not someone who cannot get a job because of their size, despite their talents and qualifications.
On another note. To any other reader, please remeber to take this show as a comedy. Try to see beyound just being fat. This show can be applied to any of us that have ever felt discriminated against based on one thing or another despite having the ability to perform as well, if not better, than someone who fits societys standards.
Yawn....another big fatty has her say. Alley still looks like a big fat slob !!
Am I missing something here?! How about something called REALITY?! Kirstie Alley has the courage to play a character that is about as real as it gets. She doesn't pander towards the 'political correctness' that suddenly she is overjoyed to be twice the size that she used to be, nor does she allow herself to become completely paralyzed by self-pity either. I thought the show was hilarious and had very creative and original script/storylines and great supporting characters. A gimic?! A hypocrite?! She is an actress who is working! I don't know where you got the idea that she was supposed to be the new fat spokeswoman- she is a funny and very real person... I didn't know that was a crime.
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