It just plain hurts to watch “More to Love,” the new TV series about plus-sized contestants.  I think I figured it out, though, it’s because the show’s a macrocosm of all that went wrong with America.

It’s largely (pardon the pun) about envy.  The contestants are envious of the slightest hint or subtle nuance that the bachelor, Luke, may like another woman more than them.  They/we are envious of the fabulous, expensive mansion that the show is housed in.  There’s envy on board the boat for the group “first date.”  There’s envy of all the women who didn’t get to go with Luke on a private jet to Las Vegas.  (Funny, the city that envy built is now almost a bankrupt ghost-town because most folks cannot afford to go there anymore and blow all their savings or max their credit cards).

Food, however, seems to save the day.  Amidst all the sadness and anecdotes of false hope soon to be dashed, there’s a big banquet!  Everything’s as wonderful as the high calorie food on the multiple plates.  I call it cruel at best.

SO much time is spent insisting that it doesn’t matter that the contestants, or Luke himself, are fat it turns into a backlash when the not-as-pretty and bigger ?”girls” are rejected at the end of the show.  

Of course it’s about physical beauty.  Of course the dream come true is wealth and material, and getting the good-looking rich man, and consumption galore.  Of course it’s about who is sexier and more appealing. Of course we’re waiting for the bickering and cat fights.  Of course we keep watching and stomaching the cries and sadness, the real features of the series.

You might argue that this is nothing new, and that’s right.  It’s an old-fashioned beauty pageant, with highly old-fashioned envy and heartbreak at the core.  It makes me wonder why I watched it again this week.  I ask myself: “is it entertainment to feel such pain?  Is it fun to groan so many times in an hour? Haven’t we gotten a little more conscious and equal in all the decades of human empowerment, gender liberation, and social activism?”

I guess not yet – envy sells – pain of others is cathartic – materialism and competition reign.  Fame and money are still the American dream, in spite of the aftermath of endangered health, rejection and loss, and hopes dashed. Isn’t there more to love than this?

Did YOU watch the series again?  Would love to read what you think, please comment!

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