The Biggest Loser (and it's opponents/proponents)

I was taught growing up to never assume anything, but I have to venture a guess that at this point, most people reading this will know what I mean when I say “The Biggest Loser”. The Biggest Loser is the first (and still one of only a few) weight loss reality show on NBC. The show first aired in the fall of 2004 when I was at my heaviest weight of 325+lb. The premise of the show is to sequester about 20 overweight or obese men and women at a spacious ranch in California for approximately 4 months of intense exercise and nutritional boot camp.

The reason that I coupled the mention of The Biggest Loser with how media attention puts pressure on our society to be thin is because even with the healthy focus of TBL, there comes a new sub culture.  The show does inspire millions of viewers each season, and draws crowds into the tens of thousands for it's auditions. It also is under scrutiny on continuous occasions for the "unrealistic" standards of weight loss that many feel it showcases.  On another vein, the show now creates a media spectacle of the contestants of the show, who are followed during their season, and after their finales to see how they all cope in the "real world" after the show.  Weight loss transformations is a new sort of genre in our media.  Many talk shows, including Oprah, Tyra, and the many make-over shows like "The Swan" and "Extreme Makeover" captivate audiences with the shocking physical transformations of the show's participants.