Speaking of My 600 lb. Life...

Let me begin by saying I love My 600 lb. Life but, one thing bothers me...

Why does every show begin with someone struggling in the shower? If they aren't in the shower, they are being rolled around in bed by a family member or friend lifting huge mounds of flesh and washing intimate areas, usually with the person being washed, laying on their side with one leg straight up in the air.

The worst I saw was when the family brought the obligatory nude person out to the front porch and then proceeded to hose her off with the garden hose! The level of degradation offended me. It hit me at the time that that's how we used to wash our dog when I was a kid.

It concerns me that these scenarios propagates the erroneous assumptions of far too many people, that SMO persons deserve less than normal weighted people.

No one in their right mind would show a nude diabetic being hosed off on the front porch, or a nude cancer patient with their legs spread so someone can wash them in those areas. There is no educational reason nor is there anything informative about it.

Why is it permissible to show SMO persons in these embarrassing situations?

Again, I love the show and Dr. N is wonderful. He is doing such great work with SMOs and is a leader in the industry. He is the proponent we need.

It's televesion. It needs a lure for ratings.

So true...

I think the show is appalling. It doesn't do anything to enhance enthusiasm for WLS.

My opinion.

I agree. It seems to get worse every season. Plus it gives "normies" misperceptions about SMO folks and WLS. I qui****ching it. "Fat Doctor" is much better - they feature more "normal" SMO types, plus they don't have all the degrading stuff, either - or at not that I've seen (admittedly I've only watched a few episodes...)

Because mocking fat people is a long-honored American tradition. :/

And this is one of the reasons I don't love the show. While Dr. N might do good works, I don't think shows that make a spectacle out of obese people are a force for good.

Well said Gwen. I like to believe it's the production company forcing the shower/bath issue and not Dr. N.

Wow! I have never watched this show and I don't think I ever will. Sounds like humiliating fat shaming.

I read somewhere (so this could be completely wrong) that the people who are picked for the show have their surgeries paid for by the show, and sometimes even stipends to help if they've had to move to Houston from elsewhere in the country.

So it feels to me like they get the people to do these degrading things (I like the show, but hate hate HATE the nude bathing nonsense) because the people want to get the surgery and this may be the only way they can. So the producers are in a position to get the people to do all sorts of humiliating things in exchange for a chance to save their lives. Which is coercion of the worst kind in my book. Even if they were trying to show all the ways the weight changes the person's life, there are ways to do that without the show and tell.

I agree that it's the producers coercing these people into doing these things. I also think you are correct regarding the economics of those portrayed in the show. I have yet to see someone financially secure, with their own insurance being treated.

It's almost like the true message, (you can get help, you can save your life) is lost because the message (fat and stupid) overshadows the entire show.