Netflix’s original series Insatiable has sparked a lot of controversies since the show premiered on August 10, 2018. The show’s premise revolves around the heroine, Patty Bladell, a teenager with a food obsession that is bullied by her classmate for being “fat” and is given the nickname “Fatty Patty.”

Patty, uncomfortable in her own skin, tries to lose weight by starving herself. This leads to her collapsing and falling under the radar of the show’s “hot popular guy” stereotype, Brick. However, Patty is rejected for a date by her crush (Brick) and tries to cope with food. Then a homeless guy punches her in the face after a scuffle over a candy bar.

This leads Patty to having her mouth wired shut and placed on an all liquid diet for 3 months. Cue the “instantly” beautiful transformation of perfect hair, face, wardrobe, and body. The distasteful plot lines are not the only problem with Insatiable and Hollywood’s “fatphobia.”

Debby Ryan (portrays Patty Bladell in Insatiable) dons a distasteful fat suit for her role on Insatiable. There are many issues with her fat suit itself. Even the simplest detail that Patty is just that a “fat suit”, an object that can be taken off at any time to become “beautiful” again. Actors that have donned fat suits in their careers may believe that being in a fat suit helps them understand the issues and body dysmorphia of plus size people. However, by the end of the day, they are without the fat suit and no longer the subject of society’s cruelty to “fat” people.

There are beautiful plus size woman out there in media. So why only portray a “fat” character with a huge stomach and a chubby face. Why is being “fat” seen as this ugly stereotype? Why not give those that are plus size proper representation? Hollywood and media portray those that are “fat” as lazy, miserable, sexless and undesirable. Seeing someone that is “fat” as a superhero, a love interest and the lead of a series is a rarity despite media claiming to be more “body positive.”

Most plus size characters are typecasted as the goofy side-kick friend that adds comic relief or is used as a plot device for their skinnier counterpart’s story. This leads fans and viewers to question if their body type is acceptable to society and I hate to say this, but, according to Hollywood, the answer is no.

Personally, I want to see more body shapes and diversity in Hollywood and not as tasteless plot devices. Hopefully, the negative reviews of Insatiable is a wake-up call to Netflix and to Hollywood that we don’t want your fat shaming satire. We want real bodies on our screens with proper representation and diversity!