Netflix’s ‘Insatiable’ Is Spoiled Broth That Ends Up Fat-Shaming

“Screw brave, I want to be thinner,’’ says Patty. Does the show end up doing exactly what it wanted to call out?

‘Insatiable’ manages to do exactly what it did not want to do-fat-shame. 

(Photo: The Quint/Aroop Mishra) 

If, like me, you are a blob of mashed pop-culture, scrambling to latch on to every speck thrown your way, you know that you'd fall for a new release on Netflix, without batting an eyelid.

But, listen up. This time, maybe don't?

Netflix's Insatiable has hit your personal screen and, if you are not careful, you might get sucked into the confusing whirlpool.

Here's what’s up.

Insatiable has taken the bravest genre of American cinema, the ‘teen-flick’, and left it hanging in limbo, crying for salvation.

Everything, I repeat, EVERYTHING in the show comes across as a well-planned, orchestrated drop of a Herculean truth-bomb, speaking to our baser instincts that are craving for social sensitisation; except I couldn't really tell what these truths were.

Patty, the lead, was formerly overweight but she isn't now. She wears a fat-suit at the beginning, only to shed it off and ‘swan’ out of the situation looking like a vengeful blow-dried Barbie, enrolling herself relentlessly in beauty pageants.

For Patty,  the widely populated zone between ‘ooh-so-hot’ and ‘fat’ does not exist. It is either this or that. Patty still ‘feels fat’, she is exceptionally naive when navigating inter-personal relationships and she wants revenge on everyone who gave her a tough time when her body wasn’t ‘banging’ and she was ‘invisible’.

Debby Ryan as Patty. (Photo: Netflix Screengrab)

There is “I-am-a-victim” Dixie and her mother Regina, who accuse Patty's pageant coach of “fake-molesting” her, thus undermining everything current movements are trying to achieve.

Now, the thing is, I kept trying to look for revealing moments that shine through the well-intentioned farce, a tragic satire beyond the outer absurdities-but nah-uh!

I was left counting the hours I had lost to Insatiable. 

Patty keeps foregrounding her weight to the absurd pastiche of boyfriends, sex, body-image and her relationship with her mother, her coach and her best friend.

“Being skinny don't mean shit if you are ugly on the inside,”quips another well-intentioned character, immediately before Patty goes to get baptised, but squirms when Pastor Mike asks her to be selfless. Wondering if she is a “basic bitch”, as pointed out by one of the characters?

Or is she just human, and the makers are trying to reclaim the word “bitch”?

My point is...what is the point you are trying to make, dear makers?

The strange mish-mash and back-and-forth between ‘here's-a-good-person’ and ‘here's-a-bad-person’ gets exhausting and confusing. We all know the good cop-bad cop drill. All we care for is a story that stays with us. A story that does not get lost while delivering a message about a teenager's mental health.

And Insatiable, unfortunately, does.

(Photo: Netflix Screengrab)

Patty's coach, Bob Armstrong, is a veritable Henry Higgins of sorts, who also identifies as a polyamorous bisexual. Patty's best friend, Nonnie, comes out of the closet, after a lot of denial-fits.  Bob A's wife, Coralee, has resurrected herself into a class-based present that is far, far away from her ‘humble’ beginnings.  And Bob Barnard, a common link between the Armstrong couple, manages to swish off the three into a throuple on account of freshly-vented , but long-suppressed feelings.

You see what's happening, right? The makers have, carefully so, treaded on all social issues, with much generosity. Gender, sexuality, class... all of it is there. But nothing strikes a chord. There are 12 long episodes and a LOT happens, true to a slapstick farce that relies on witty banter and unexpected situations.

Unlike, a Not Another Teen Movie or a Freaky Friday, this one's...

Just another (confusing) teen show that ends up fat-shaming, despite its best efforts.