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Sunday, October 12, 2008

Weighing-in on The Biggest Loser

Having now watched an entire season of The Biggest Loser, I wanted to revisit my initial observations to see if I still felt the same way. And yep, for the most part, I do:
  • The voting is still stupid. Entirely stupid. Either it should be performance based or social strategy-based. This weird hybrid of Survivor and some kind of weight-loss American Idol is bizarre.
  • The humiliation factor seems to exist as a psychological purpose to keep the viewer watching. After all, we're expected to be content enough to sit on the couch for two hours and watch people who are more motivated than we are work out for marathon sessions that would be appropriate only for professional athletes or Olympians. We know that the odds are pretty good that the average viewer has some poundage to lose, but the show can't afford to alienate or make the viewer feel bad about themselves. Instead they create these vaguely embarrassing and humiliating moments for the contestants. The calorie intake montage, the weigh-in uniform, the long camera pans showing their sweating fat rolls jiggling or showing them on enormous industrial-size seesaws. It's all there to make us feel better about our own weight situation.
  • The commercials started out annoying and then got even more annoying. If anything, the product placement really undermines the authority of the trainers. If a corporation selling 100 percent pure unadulterated lard sponsored the show, you get the feeling that Bob would be telling you how a little bit o' lard was an important part of everyone's day.
  • The unrealistic weight-loss numbers are just that: extremely unrealistic. The show never even gives one moment of airtime to explain to perhaps the less jaded viewer that the amount of weight loss experienced by the contestants happens under extreme circumstances and that the healthy rate recommended for permanent weight loss is 1-2 pounds a week.
  • There are a few nuggets of real information, in drips and drabs, throughout the season. We found out how many calories the contestants were eating, how fast they were moving on the treadmill, etc., but placing some charts and guidance on the website would be the responsible thing to do if the producers were even a little interested in helping the nation lose weight sensibly.
  • The sign off, "I'm sorry, you are not the Biggest Loser," is still incredibly stupid.
Clearly, a Weetabix-produced version of the show would be very different (and probably wouldn't have even a quarter of the ratings). The first thing to go would be the mofo scale. Instead of the number of pounds, contestants would have their actual fitness measured along the terms of speed, strength and endurance. In the first episode, all of the contestants would be bench-marked against a bunch of activities like swimming, cross-country running, and rock climbing, that balance beam test and a few other fun sporty things. Instead of working in the gym to sweat out as many pounds as possible, their fitness routines would be similar to those designed for top athletes, with the goal of refining their bodies to best perform in those events. Instead of weigh-in, contestants would compete in one of the benchmarked activities. They wouldn't be trying to beat the other players, necessarily, but rather, their performance would be measured against their own personal benchmark. The percentage at which they improved could serve as their measure of success that week. That means the girls would not have an unfair advantage against the boys and your biggest competition would be yourself. The person who improves the most would win a fabulous prize (their own pony? Amusement park? Tim Gunn?) and the person who improves the least would have to wear a silly hat or communicate only through the art of mime for the next week. Their weight would drop as a side effect of their improved fitness and would no longer be considered the be-all end-all measure of success.

The truth is, I don't know if it's realistic to impress upon the populace that you can drop 124 pounds in 4 months, and there is some question as to whether or not that rate of weight loss is even healthy. How about some actionable goals that are more spiritual than material? You just can't deny the emotional benefits of being able to climb a rock wall that you couldn't climb before. And what's a more fulfilling goal: the ability to wear an Armani suit or the fact that you can get stronger, healthier, faster and more bendy? I know what I would pick.

The comments want to hear how you would create the perfect physical fitness reality show.

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Related: weight loss, tv, the biggest loser, media, diet. trainers, criticism

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From the Community…

Comments 1-4 of 4
  • Patty's Avatar
    Posted by Patty Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:46am PDT

    The only thing I would change about this show is the drama. There is too much of the cliffhanger go to commercial where they show the trainer and contestants faces in reaction to what the scale shows and then when they come back and actually show the moment, it is completely different. Don't create drama that isn't there in the first place. It makes the whole thing seem false. Also showing such personal times such as Mark crying all the time on this season. Made me very uncomfortable. I just wanted to scream at the tv to get on with it. In order to have a viable product for tv, there has to be the workout footage and some of the other things that seem kind of hokey. The one thing I would dispose of is the humiliating weigh in outfits. Especially the girl with those tight sports bra things and their guts hanging out. Mortifying!

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  • alissan's Avatar
    Posted by alissan Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:14am PDT

    I have really struggled with finding the good in this show. I know its good for obese people to get healthy, but I don't think this is the way to advocate doing it. Personally I cannot watch this show and not feel triggered to return to old patterns (eating disorder and exercise addiction). I know these people are overweight and only obsessed for the sake of winning the contest. But I can't help but wonder if any of these people, especially the women, will feel the need to continue to exercise all day long on limited calories for fear they will gain it back. When I was in a recovery center for my eating disorder, I'm not kidding you, many, many of the anorexic women I met used to be quite overweight. You'd never know it looking at their starving bodies, but they would bring in pictures and I was amazed. They were ridiculed for being fat so long, that when they finally figured out how to lose weight, they became so fearful of gaining it back, that they became obsessed. I think this show only ups the risk of this happening, because they teach the overweight people extreme dieting and exercise from the get go. I know many of you may disagree but that is my two cents.

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  • robin r's Avatar
    Posted by robin r Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:23pm PDT

    I used to watch the Biggest Loser, but I agree with both of you, I think they take it too far. I think that the show should be about encouraging eachother to lose weight, and not make it a competition and all about money.

    I think they should focus more about the health aspect of losing weight.

    Thank you for sharing.

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  • Gemini's Avatar
    Posted by Gemini Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:36pm PDT

    It just doesn't seem healthy to me to lose that much weight that fast. Nor is it something the average person can do when they have a job ect...

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