I have never seen a full episode of The Biggest Loser. I flicked over once, years ago, to see the contestants blind-folded and surrounded by chocolates. There was some kind of punishment attached to eating them, and as the crackling of wrappers betrayed the weak ones, they were berated by their team mates. It was like a terrible dream. You know those bizarre nightmares in which the humiliations of your teenage years are combined with adulthood? Imagine a dream in which you, an adult, are shamefully gobbling choccies, on TV, in bike shorts, while other adults express their disappointment in you for letting them down.
I had a little cry that night.
Shows like The Biggest Loser and Excess Baggage create a forum for needy people to get on TV and nasty people to call them names. It’s not about “the journey”. It’s about acceptance, it’s about the Princess moment. It’s about having a bunch of beautiful people congratulate you for making it to their world – however brief your stay will be. It’s even on television, which we all know is only for beautiful people. Well as far I’m concerned, these shows make for ugly television and contribute to ugliness in our community.
You’ve only got to follow twitter during an episode to witness the vile barbs people hurl from their couches. “I will unfollow anyone tweeting nasty things about the Biggest Loser people,” I tweeted last year. “You know it’s wrong to treat others that way, you’ve known it since pre school, so don’t do it.”
It’s hard to insist the contestants be treated with compassion, when the network behind Excess Baggage chooses to publicise the series with full page ads depicting the celebrities crushing the channel nine logo, by sitting on it. I mean seriously, is that how those clever executives were raised? I would be thoroughly ashamed of my children if they participated in the humiliation of anyone, for any amount of money or television ratings, at any age.