USA's The Biggest Loser reboot is "the same old sh*t": The spectacle of fat people's pain and tears

The Muse

With new host Bob Harper, The Biggest Loser promised to be kindler and gentler compared to its previous controversial 2004-2016 iteration on NBC. So producers are focusing on "wellness" and "making a lifestyle change." "They’ve assured critics that they are now dedicated to 'aftercare' and helping contestants after they leave the show," says Kelly Faircloth. "And yet it’s still a reality TV show competition where people are rewarded for simply shedding pounds the fastest. The narrative tension revolves around the weigh-in room, which looks like a giant discotheque, which will be 'the site of your proudest victories and greatest disappointments,' Harper promised the contestants. Each of the contestants stepped on the scale either shirtless or wearing an exercise bra, entering their near-naked bodies as evidence while the number registered huge behind them, Harper reading it off like a court official rattling off charges against a defendant." Faircloth adds: "Instead of wellness, the heart of this show is fat people breaking down and crying, typically in front of the conventionally attractive personal trainers in whom the show invests all its moral authority. Each of the contestants is expected to put their pain on display as a backstory for why they’re fat and why they want to change their lives....The Biggest Loser wants to portray itself as focusing on the mental aspect, including scenes where everyone gathers around in a room and talks about their feelings -- while Harper reads off their stats, saying things like, 'Your body fat percentage is so high, that you have a 90 percent chance of dying of obesity-related complication.' Another opportunity to film fat people crying, of course, but the show also seems to conflate weight loss with therapy, as though an exercise routine were enough to unpack genuine trauma. As though the important part about somebody’s pain is that it might make them fat."

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• The Biggest Loser is still making contestants feel ashamed of their bodies: "The show fetishizes workout culture as much as it ever has," says Sophie Gilbert. "The two new trainers, Steve Cook and Erica Lugo, are slightly gentler than (Bob) Harper and (Jillian) Michaels in their prime, but both seem entirely committed to the Biggest Loser premise that obesity is just a form of mental weakness and treadmills are the cure. Contestants go straight into interval training, which leaves them crying, hyperventilating, and vomiting repeatedly into color-coded buckets....The message this kind of attitude conveys is one of shame. Not only is stigma detrimental to weight loss, it also affects the way viewers at home see the world. (A 2012 study found that watching weight-loss reality shows left subjects with 'significantly higher levels of dislike of overweight individuals.') The Biggest Loser claims to want to change these kinds of attitudes, but its empowerment talk communicates much less than the deliberately punishing workout interludes do. And its 'therapy' sessions are led by trainers, an absurd conflation of physical and mental health."
• The Biggest Loser spends an extremely long time showing contestants standing shirtless on giants scales: "The Biggest Loser is offering aftercare to its eliminated contestants: a gym membership (product integration!), access to a nutritionist, and a local support group," says Andy Dehnart. "That’s nice, but if the show really, actually cared about helping people—not just making a TV show—why not get rid of that? Why not keep everyone on the ranch and mark their progress with more than just pounds lost? Why is so much of the focus on straining in the gym and standing on the scale? Why is that the message that the show continues to send?"
• Bob Harper defends keeping the weigh-in in the reboot: "The weigh-in and competitive component of the show is a victorious moment for the contestants and viewers alike," he said in a statement. "It’s a tangible and visible expression of their hard work and success, and all the contestants celebrate with each other.”