A few weeks ago while watching
Grey’s Anatomy, a preview came on for a new ABC sitcom called The Real O’Neils.
At first, nothing about the trailer really caught my attention. It just seemed
like another corny series that will probably be cancelled within one or two
seasons. One line, however, really hit a nerve with me, and that line was an
eating disorder joke. After doing research on this show, it seems that a major
punch line in the plot of this program is surrounding eating disorders, and
more specifically, male anorexia.
Not only is
this a completely distasteful and unfunny joke, but also it’s incredibly
harmful for many reasons. Eating disorders are not a joke. Nothing is funny
about kidney failure, feeding tubes, and crippling depression. As someone who
spent three months in the hospital because of anorexia, I can tell you first
hand it is nowhere near comedic.
Another
reason this is incredibly problematic is males who suffer from eating disorders
are stigmatized even more so than women who do. Eating disorders are viewed as
a ‘white girl problem’, which causes men and People of Color to be more
hesitant to come forward and seek out treatment. Making male eating disorders
into a punch line is only furthering this issue.
In the trailer, the way the
character’s anorexia is portrayed is wildly inaccurate. Granted, I haven’t
watched a full episode, but the character was smiling while eating pancakes and
enthusiastically stating how much he has eaten. This is in NO WAY how anorexia
works. Individuals who suffer from eating disorders are often unable to eat a
meal without crying because of the extreme guilt. Obviously all cases are
different but portraying eating disorders this way trivializes the life
threatening illnesses that affect so many.
So my
message to ABC is this: cancel this program or eliminate this plot line. I’m
sure a punch line about leukemia or Down syndrome would never fly, so this shouldn’t
either. And to those who agree with me, reach out to ABC. Don’t let them get
away with this. Mental illness is both underrepresented and misrepresented and
we can’t let this continue.
