David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
In TV Series, Some Reality on Weight
By TARA PARKER-POPE, New York Times
September 22, 2009
Television has turned its lens on the overweight in recent seasons, mostly with reality shows like The Biggest Loser on NBC. But, surprisingly, it has taken a new dramatic series to challenge conventional notions about dieting and willpower, and to more accurately depict the emerging science of weight loss.
In Drop Dead Diva, on Lifetime, a heavenly mix-up leaves Deb, a vapid but good-hearted size zero model, trapped in the overweight body of Jane, an intelligent, hard-working lawyer played by Brooke Elliott (think Heaven Can Wait meets Ally McBeal and Legally Blonde) .
The ensuing story line centers on Deb?s struggle to accept her new plus-size life. But the show?s premise raises an obvious question: Given Deb?s success at maintaining a model-like figure, why doesn?t she just put her new body on a diet and lose the weight?
Shows like Biggest Loser proffer the message that all it takes is exercise and willpower for fat people to become thin. But Drop Dead Diva ? 9 p.m. Eastern time on Sundays ? explores a different reality. While the slim Deb could comfortably subsist on a diet of grapefruit and celery, Jane?s plus-size body craves chocolate doughnuts. While Deb spent her days working out and obsessing about the size of her knees, Jane discovers that long hours at the office drain her of the desire and energy to exercise.
When a friend suggests a strict diet, Deb (now in Jane?s body) makes a valiant effort to return to her model eating habits. But she discovers that Jane?s body craves chocolate and Cheez Whiz. When she is inside Jane?s body, Deb says: ?I don?t like celery. I like sandwiches.?
The show?s creator, Josh Berman, said he wanted the series to make a statement about diet, weight and beauty. ?I don?t believe it?s about willpower,? Mr. Berman said in an interview. ?If it were, then the assumption would be that if we all wanted to be a size zero, we could be a size zero. Everyone has different needs and desires. If someone finds a doughnut to be comforting, who are we to judge them??
Most obesity researchers now agree that metabolic differences, not willpower, are the driving forces behind weight and appetite control. Studies suggest that an imbalance of brain chemicals and hormones, including cortisol, ghrelin, leptin and serotonin, can increase cravings and make certain foods difficult to resist.
?I have grave concerns about how many of these television shows stigmatize overweight people by making them a spectacle,? said Kelly D. Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale. ?They suggest that if you only try hard enough you can be thin. A far better message is that it?s hard to lose weight and that it?s not just willpower and personal responsibility, but that both biology and the environment are players.?
Just last week, researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern reported how high-fat foods could alter brain signals that regulate appetite and satiety. The researchers gave rats and mice saturated or unsaturated fat, finding that the saturated fat made its way to the brain, where it blocked the ability of the hormone leptin to regulate food intake and body weight.
The effect can last for days, touching off a cycle of overeating, the researchers said. Notably, unsaturated fat had no effect, said the study?s lead author, Deborah Clegg, an assistant professor of internal medicine. The data, Dr. Clegg added, show that what and how we eat goes far beyond simple willpower.
Mr. Berman says Drop Dead Diva is heavily influenced by his family experiences. His father, a plastic surgeon, and his mother, a nurse, made frequent trips to the Pritikin weight-loss resort in Florida.
?Everything in my family was about health and weight,? he said. ?My mom didn?t let any of the kids eat sugar. Even at birthday parties we were denied cake. All of those issues were in the back of my mind when I wrote the show.?
Mr. Berman, who is of normal weight, said his inspiration for the show came from his grandmother, a short, plump woman named Deb ?who carried herself like a supermodel.?
?I always liked the idea of a woman who doesn?t feel on the inside like she looks on the outside,? he said. ?I thought, ?How could I dramatize that type of person?? ?
And while many shows portray overweight women as dowdy, Ms. Elliott, whose performance as Jane has captivated reviewers, has also become something of a fashion trendsetter.
Fans of the show have searched online for Jane?s green Michael Kors purse, and Entertainment Weekly recently featured a coral dot-print shirtdress by Kay Unger New York that Ms. Elliott wore on the show.
Ms. Elliott says she is pleased that her character has become inspirational to so many women, although the attention still surprises her.
?The show is supposed to blow open the stereotype of what we believe about weight or the roles overweight actresses have to play,? she said. ?I?m just trying to play this character honestly and make sure we?re sending the right message.?
Mr. Berman said his show would continue to try to be nonjudgmental about weight and focus on issues of self-esteem and identity.
?This show is not telling people they need to lose weight,? he said. ?I feel there are enough shows that make people feel bad about themselves. If you want to lose weight, fine. Just don?t hate yourself if you?re larger than average.?
By TARA PARKER-POPE, New York Times
September 22, 2009
Television has turned its lens on the overweight in recent seasons, mostly with reality shows like The Biggest Loser on NBC. But, surprisingly, it has taken a new dramatic series to challenge conventional notions about dieting and willpower, and to more accurately depict the emerging science of weight loss.
In Drop Dead Diva, on Lifetime, a heavenly mix-up leaves Deb, a vapid but good-hearted size zero model, trapped in the overweight body of Jane, an intelligent, hard-working lawyer played by Brooke Elliott (think Heaven Can Wait meets Ally McBeal and Legally Blonde) .
The ensuing story line centers on Deb?s struggle to accept her new plus-size life. But the show?s premise raises an obvious question: Given Deb?s success at maintaining a model-like figure, why doesn?t she just put her new body on a diet and lose the weight?
Shows like Biggest Loser proffer the message that all it takes is exercise and willpower for fat people to become thin. But Drop Dead Diva ? 9 p.m. Eastern time on Sundays ? explores a different reality. While the slim Deb could comfortably subsist on a diet of grapefruit and celery, Jane?s plus-size body craves chocolate doughnuts. While Deb spent her days working out and obsessing about the size of her knees, Jane discovers that long hours at the office drain her of the desire and energy to exercise.
When a friend suggests a strict diet, Deb (now in Jane?s body) makes a valiant effort to return to her model eating habits. But she discovers that Jane?s body craves chocolate and Cheez Whiz. When she is inside Jane?s body, Deb says: ?I don?t like celery. I like sandwiches.?
The show?s creator, Josh Berman, said he wanted the series to make a statement about diet, weight and beauty. ?I don?t believe it?s about willpower,? Mr. Berman said in an interview. ?If it were, then the assumption would be that if we all wanted to be a size zero, we could be a size zero. Everyone has different needs and desires. If someone finds a doughnut to be comforting, who are we to judge them??
Most obesity researchers now agree that metabolic differences, not willpower, are the driving forces behind weight and appetite control. Studies suggest that an imbalance of brain chemicals and hormones, including cortisol, ghrelin, leptin and serotonin, can increase cravings and make certain foods difficult to resist.
?I have grave concerns about how many of these television shows stigmatize overweight people by making them a spectacle,? said Kelly D. Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale. ?They suggest that if you only try hard enough you can be thin. A far better message is that it?s hard to lose weight and that it?s not just willpower and personal responsibility, but that both biology and the environment are players.?
Just last week, researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern reported how high-fat foods could alter brain signals that regulate appetite and satiety. The researchers gave rats and mice saturated or unsaturated fat, finding that the saturated fat made its way to the brain, where it blocked the ability of the hormone leptin to regulate food intake and body weight.
The effect can last for days, touching off a cycle of overeating, the researchers said. Notably, unsaturated fat had no effect, said the study?s lead author, Deborah Clegg, an assistant professor of internal medicine. The data, Dr. Clegg added, show that what and how we eat goes far beyond simple willpower.
Mr. Berman says Drop Dead Diva is heavily influenced by his family experiences. His father, a plastic surgeon, and his mother, a nurse, made frequent trips to the Pritikin weight-loss resort in Florida.
?Everything in my family was about health and weight,? he said. ?My mom didn?t let any of the kids eat sugar. Even at birthday parties we were denied cake. All of those issues were in the back of my mind when I wrote the show.?
Mr. Berman, who is of normal weight, said his inspiration for the show came from his grandmother, a short, plump woman named Deb ?who carried herself like a supermodel.?
?I always liked the idea of a woman who doesn?t feel on the inside like she looks on the outside,? he said. ?I thought, ?How could I dramatize that type of person?? ?
And while many shows portray overweight women as dowdy, Ms. Elliott, whose performance as Jane has captivated reviewers, has also become something of a fashion trendsetter.
Fans of the show have searched online for Jane?s green Michael Kors purse, and Entertainment Weekly recently featured a coral dot-print shirtdress by Kay Unger New York that Ms. Elliott wore on the show.
Ms. Elliott says she is pleased that her character has become inspirational to so many women, although the attention still surprises her.
?The show is supposed to blow open the stereotype of what we believe about weight or the roles overweight actresses have to play,? she said. ?I?m just trying to play this character honestly and make sure we?re sending the right message.?
Mr. Berman said his show would continue to try to be nonjudgmental about weight and focus on issues of self-esteem and identity.
?This show is not telling people they need to lose weight,? he said. ?I feel there are enough shows that make people feel bad about themselves. If you want to lose weight, fine. Just don?t hate yourself if you?re larger than average.?
