thoroughly satiated

Fatty Patty.  A fight with a homeless guy over a donut in front of a convenience store (Booze and Stuff).  Punches are thrown.  A summer spent with jaws wired shut.  The completely-believable loss of over 70 pounds.  Returning to school in the fall a skinny and hot Patty.  One who is “insatiable”—including a desire for revenge.

There’s the premise for the tv show, Insatiable.

The big controversy about the series is that it engages in fat-shaming.  Much of that criticism was based on the show’s trailer, which does seem to illustrate the quote, “skinny is magic.”

However, the show’s creator Lauren Gussis begs to differ.  She bases the story of Patty Bladell (played by Debby Ryan) on her own life.  In a Vanity Fair article, she says, “I always had issues with my body and weight.  I was always in the 90th percentile for weight.  I always felt bad about it.  I was bullied when I was a teenager.  My friends dumped me.  I felt alone without the protection of friends or being one of the popular girls.  I got attacked a lot.  I think that made me isolate, and I think food became a solution to that for sure.”

For fans of dark comedy—and high school trauma—Insatiable fits the bill.  Bob Armstrong, played by Dallas Roberts, is a disgraced lawyer whose real purpose in life is coaching beauty pageant contestants.  The ridiculous nature of the pageants provides a running backstory.  Alyssa Milano plays his wife, who has her own struggles to overcome her past and join the Georgia town’s elite residents.

 

There are plenty of sight gags and over-the-top moments of humor, but there are scenes which display Patty’s futility in finding peace and acceptance.  She still battles with her demons—figuratively and literally!  One especially heartbreaking incident of struggle comes when no sound can be heard.  We can sense Gussis channeling the self-hatred she had to have felt.

Maybe “skinny isn’t magic” after all!