I have so many thoughts about Dietland and I need more time (and more episodes) for them to come together more completely but I want to find a place to start because, while there are plenty of shows I enjoy or even love, this is one that has made me excited that it’s Monday just so that I can watch the latest episode!
Dietland isn’t perfect but I don’t think it has to be. In the past, I might have called out some of its stereotypes or use of exaggerations, but the marvelous Roxane Gay has convinced me that I’m not a perfect feminist and that’s okay.
It’s stylized, it creates its own little world of quirks, and I recently described it to others by saying it was like if Bryan Fuller, Wes Anderson, and Tim Burton had a baby…and that baby is Dietland. It is atmospheric; sometimes it has vibrant, rich visuals, other times it uses an understated palette, and sometimes it’s just downright dark and comical.
What is consistently does is make me feel and think. If you are a woman, and especially if you are a fat woman, you will probably find relatable moments in this show. Certainly, I can’t relate to everything that Plum, the main character, experiences but I can relate to the feelings she goes through.
If you haven’t watched Dietland, the premise is that Plum is a 30-something fat woman who writes for a teen magazine but she is a ghost writer for the editor who is a middle-aged, power-hungry woman who cares more about her image than the well-being of anyone else. I confess that when I first read the description I was NOT going to watch the show. But then I happened to be up at strange hour with a toothache after some recent dental work and decided to give it a shot. I am so glad I did, because it’s nothing like I expected it to be. It’s not a soap opera-type show at all. This show is filled with hard truths, with heart, with hatred, and with murderous mystery and intrigue.
I’ve seen some less-than-glowing reviews of Dietland, including an article for Jezebel that said the show is exhausting and dated (specifically, it was said that “it feels like 2008”). You can find the full article here: https://themuse.jezebel.com/it-feels-like-2008-a-conversation-about-amcs-exhaustin-1826544329
At first, I was disheartened and annoyed, and then I read the comments. Normally, I know that can be a very dangerous undertaking but in this case it perked me up. Maybe Dietland seems dated to a younger generation, one that considers themselves #woke, but for those of us who very much grew up in a generation where teen and women’s magazines were full of sexist, misogynistic bullshit this show is relatable. Sure, times have changed in that there are now body positivity and fat acceptance movements but it’s still common for fat people to face stigma (and worse), and it was even more acceptable to shame fat people a couple decades ago. For middle-aged women, fat shaming was the reality during some of the most formative years of body image and self-discovery. We’ve come a long way, but not so far that you won’t easily find all kinds of fat-hater websites, Instagram accounts, and more. The thing is, this show is relevant in 2008 and in 2018.