The show will follow the recent college grad as she arrives in Los Angeles from a small town near Pittsburgh, and will chronicle issues like her long-distance boyfriend, social phobias and weight loss [she's 324 pounds].
The docu-drama appears to be a viewer-friendly blend of reality dramas like “The Hills" and weight loss programs like “I Used to be Fat” or “The Biggest Loser.”
“Chelsea Settles” premieres with a special hour-long episode on Oct. 11 at 11:00 p.m ET, and you can watch the trailer here. [CNN]
(If you're not in the US the trailer might work for you here.)
The catch line is "a new kind of heroine" but as her heroic journey appears to be focused on her weight loss... I'm a bit meh. If the show also has a good dollop of body-acceptance along the way that would be cool, but since she's trying to be a model, I le doubt it. I don't think this is going to do anything positive in terms of having a plus sized person on TV. Or even a person of color on TV. Over all this show seems like a train wreck.
Let's find something beautiful to counter its effect...
8 comments:
I would say from the start the show is doomed. Any efforts to say something about body acceptance will be blocked by the zillion dollar weight loss industry which no doubt sponsors the show. Sad.
I have that India Arie song on my i-POD. It's beautiful.
I'm with Judy. No positive messages or affirmation will reach this young woman...she is part of a reality show that will essentially (by its very nature) paint a target on her back for criticisms.
I know people choose to take part in these shows to launch their hoped-for careers in broadcasting, etc but this one just seems like it would be painful. For everyone.
A couple of other points: Unless things have changed radically since I last looked, plus-size models are really the size of ordinary people, a good two-hundred pounds less than Chelsea weighs now. And LA is a rough place to be unless you're among the most thin/beautiful/wealthy/gifted, so this young woman's life is about to become so much more difficult than before on so many levels. Very different than it was in Pittsburgh.
I wish her well, but this all sounds like cruel exploitation.
And you mention she also has social phobias? Oh my god, no this sounds horrible.
Oh, and thank you for including the video, a perfect antidote for the bad thoughts and feelings left after I really got into imagining what might be upcoming for that young woman and that show.
I love that video. I love the song and I love her triumphant moves as well.
This poor kid--sheesh!
Londonmabel--great blog! I've never visited before today. Love it!
So we're all in agreement. Boo sucks to Chelsea Settles! (Though only good wishes to Chelsea herself.)
The content is so overdone and everyone has heard of the weight loss story. I also find the "realism" to be quite flawed as in how the room mate is "surprised" the first time they meet even though the camera angle is from inside. Also the way she purposely adds humor by using one of the "dolls" to attack a spider which should be out of sight seems plain absurd. In the second episode she also meets with this "popular" girl from their high school that is now big in the entertainment industry. That seems fake seeing how they were most likely not close to being in the same clique or contacted each other in high school.
Thanks anon, interesting to hear about the actual show now. I haven't seen it!
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