Netflix is no stranger to controversy. From fights with film festivals to audience backlash with shows like “13 Reasons Why,” the streaming service has weathered every storm and lived to tell the tale. And now, the streaming giant finds themselves engaged in another situation that might break a lesser studio, but hasn’t made Netflix blink an eye.
The streaming service’s latest drama surrounds the new comedy series “Insatiable.” The series has been the subject of controversy when the first trailer premiered and viewers became aware of the premise. “Insatiable” follows a plus-sized high school student, portrayed by the decidedly non-plus-sized actress Debby Ryan in a fat suit, who gets in an accident that requires her jaw to be wired shut. Over the summer, while recovering and not being able to eat, she loses a bunch of weight and comes back to school as a hot girl with a chip on her shoulder. Hilarity(?) ensues.
As you can probably tell from just the premise, there are plenty of people online that were upset over the series depiction of plus-sized people and the presumed message that you have to conform to society’s definition of beautiful to be noticed. The backlash spawned a petition, which was signed by hundreds of thousands of people. And now, the star of the show, Ryan, and the show’s creator, Lauren Gussis, are speaking up.
In an interview with Variety, Gussis was asked if the backlash and campaign to get the show pulled from Netflix actually meant trouble for the series. “I talked to Netflix every single day and they never brought it up,” Gussis said. “They were the most supportive and loving. The entire process they were very artist driven and understanding. They knew it was a satire and we discussed the issues going into it so that when the issues came up, we could poke the bear so people could talk about the them.”
The person at the center of all this controversy, like it or not, is Ryan. The young actress seems to be the poster child for everything wrong with the series, despite not being responsible for the writing, direction, or creation of “Insatiable.” But nevertheless, she is the face on all the marketing materials.
“It really comes from a place of compassion and it was such an eye-opening experience for me learning about things I could have never known,” Ryan said. “Just walking through the world with friends and people close to me with very intense and visible weight fluctuations and watching the difference in their treatment ignited a fire in me. The rage was a lot of preparation for me.”
Now, as someone who hasn’t seen the series, I can’t say whether or not the problems with the premise are handled over the course of the season, but just judging by the trailers, the backlash seems warranted. However, you can’t deny the sincerity of Ryan and Gussis. So, like everything, we should all probably just watch and judge for ourselves.
“Insatiable” hits Netflix today.