On to The Biggest Loser (Channel Ten), which does offer us something slightly different this season: the contestants compete in family groups of four. It's pretty much like Family Feud but with more drills and dry-retching.
This show is hideous. Teaching people about the importance of a healthy diet and lifestyle is one thing but The Biggest Loser dresses up the dressing down of overweight contestants as education and self-help. Occasionally, obesity might be alluded to as the complex health issue it is but it gets overshadowed by the voyeuristic aspect of as I constantly hear it described "watching fatties cry".
The whole thing feels like high-school bullying, with the skinny, popular kids making fun of the fat kids. Its message is that crash dieting is acceptable and healthy but as the trainers tell the contestants they're disgusting for eating so much, the ad breaks encourage more consumption. I don't care if the people involved with this program genuinely believe they're doing something good for the world; they seem like mean girls, plain and simple.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/ent...st-a-little-bit-tasteless-20110209-1amji.html
