It takes all kinds to make a world, so get in where you fit in!
OK, let me first say that I’m a woman of a certain weight. It’s higher than I’d like it to be for the moment, but it never really slows me down in any way. I plan on rock climbing on vacation, and any other activity I can fit in. My motto: if they make it in my size, I plan to wear it. Except for the string bikini. Tried it once and it was really a mistake. To quote Jill Scott, “you know what they say, everything ain’t for everybody.”
So, I’ve been an occasional fan of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette but never thought it was real and stopped watching a few years ago. A bunch of model wanna-be’s professing how hard it is to meet someone as they proceed to suck face on national television? Easy to make fun of, but not “reality” TV, know what I mean? Like only skinny people get to date and make fools of themselves in public. I’ve made a fool of myself plenty of times, and I’ve had a date or two, so I was pleased to see the promos for More to Love on Fox. I should have known better, since it was Fox, but I thought it would be a nice change of pace to see some normal-sized women on a dating show. Then I watched some of the show and remembered why it’s on TV: ‘cuz it’s just like every other dating show.
For some reason, I think the idea of a “plus size” dating show connotes to some people that its somehow going to be different than the other shows because the contestants are overweight. WRONG! They’re still people who want to have cameras follow them on dates, and who “fall in love” with some guy or girl because the supply is scarce and there’s a lot of competition. It really is just survival of the fittest. If the folks on dating shows (other than those that involve celebrities or money) met each other under normal social conditions, nobody would even think about proposing marriage until over a year had passed, and “love” would be a 4-letter word. When’s the last time you took someone home to meet your parents after 8 weeks? Just as I thought. I think I went on a tangent, but the point is that More to Love will follow the same “dramatic” arc as other dating shows, but with wider camera angles. Coming attractions for the show featured the requisite hot tub and bedroom make-out sessions, only the women had real breasts and the guy had a pot belly. During the course of the show I’m sure there’ll be a cat fight, some petty backstabbing, and/or some crazy bitch who will be known as “that crazy fat bitch” by the TV audience. So I’m not impressed.
But here’s the think that really annoys me about the show: the guy is also a little on the big side. I’m offended that the “big girls” automatically get placed with the “big guy”, like all fat people deserve each other, or the best any of us can do is some other fat person who’s just like us. Its as unrealistic a portrayal as all the “beautiful people” on other dating shows who can apparently only date their kind. Where’s the tall skinny dude who likes his women soft and cuddly? Where’s the gym rat who’d prefer to date a woman who digests her dinner instead of throwing it up? Where’s the average man who just wants to date a woman he likes, and she happens to be a few pounds overweight? I guess its more palatable to America to compartmentalize people based on looks and weight, so its easier for skinny people to look at two big people and think, “oh, that’s why they’re together” even if it isn’t true. Personally, I’ve dated men from the short and squishy, to the freakishly tall and lanky and everything in between. My personal tastes run somewhere in the middle – taller than me, with muscular limbs and defined shoulders so I’m not the buff one. I don’t necessarily like overweight men. It would also shock the producers of MTL to learn that in spite of my weight, all kinds of men hit on me. I’ve been 50 lbs thinner than I am right now and its pretty much the same. I don’t suddenly have Biggie trying to go out with me because I’m a size 16. Admittedly, all the fine brothers stepped to me when I was smaller, but I never responded because I don’t like pretty men. (Only one person in the relationship can primp and that person should be me, thank you very much. Also, I’d like a little latitude to let myself slide without some idiot telling me its time to go to the gym: I’ll go when I’m good and ready. And, I’m not trophy-wife material, since I have a few degrees, some damn sense, and I like to give my opinion to anyone who’ll listen. What was I talking about again?)
The point is, why can’t there be a dating show like real life? It would still be funny, just not as embarrassing for the participants, but Americans don’t want that. Remember when Bob Guiney was on The Bachelorette? All the women I know LOVED him! He was a little chubby, funny as anything and cute as a button. But he didn’t get a rose and he left the show early. Maybe because Trista wanted a super-stud: she married Ryan the fireman. But she also wanted a lap-dog, since I don’t really think Ryan ever had an opinion other than how beautiful she was, and he had no personality. Neither does Trista, so they deserve each other.
Bob eventually lost the weight (he was injured and couldn’t work out, which he told everyone. I mean, why else would anyone be heavy?) and found love on his own reality show. Apparently he lost some sense with the poundage, as he’s now in a band that does cruise ships? Whatever…should have stayed fat ‘n funny: it works for me.
