14 DAY TRIAL // Last month, CBS premiered a new sitcom, “Mike & Molly,” which has just been renewed for a second season. Maura Kelly, Marie Claire blogger, has written a post in which she says fat people are “gross” and should not be allowed on the small screen – thus starting a debate that is still raging.
“Mike & Molly” tells the story of two heavy-set people who meet at Overeaters Anonymous, fall in love and try to make their relationship work, just like a regular couple would – and does.
The show, though deemed “not really that funny” by some, has received countless praises for how it deals with the issue of weight and, most importantly, for the message it sends across: fat people are still people, and they’re just like us.
Maura Kelly is among those who not only consider a sitcom with two “fat people” not funny, but also quite an ordeal for their eyes. In her hateful post, she says it’s gross to even think of such a concept for a show, let alone actually see scenes from it.
“Yes, I think I’d be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other... because I’d be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything,” the blogger, who works as a freelancer for the women’s magazine, says.
“To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room – just like I’d find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine [sic] addict slumping in a chair,” she adds.
Her post has prompted the ire of countless readers, who have already taken to the most popular social networks to urge their friends and followers to boycott Marie Claire, a publication that, at the end of the day, should cater to all women, not just skinny ones.
Since then, the magazine has been accused of bigotry, bullying and, last but not least, of trying to sweep all this under the rug by not even bothering to issue something that at least looks like a sincere apology.
As Editor-In-Chief Joana Coles says for Fashionista, “Maura Kelly is a very provocative blogger. She was an anorexic herself and this is a subject she feels very strongly about.”
Kelly is a recovering anorexic, so Coles believes her strong reaction to the show may be partially explained by this. Coles, just like Kelly, doesn’t apologize, even though she admits Marie Claire has received over 28,000 complaints over the blog post, considered one of the meanest and most hateful things ever to go online.
After receiving over 1,000 comments on her post, Kelly updated it with what looks like an apology but is not, as Josh Shahryar of the Washington Post says in a brilliant editorial / open letter to Marie Claire.
“Believe it or not, I never wanted anyone to feel bullied or ashamed after reading this, and I sorely regret that it upset people so much,” she says. As Mr. Shahryar says, she doesn’t apologize for what she said / did, she’s sorry because people took offense with it.
“And for whatever it’s worth, I feel just as uncomfortable when I see an anorexic person as I do when I see someone who is morbidly obese, because I assume people suffering from eating disorders on either end of the spectrum are doing damage to their bodies, and that they are unhappy,” Kelly goes on to say.
As anticipated, this has done little to put out the fire that’s still burning furiously. Readers are not convinced by the apology, and Marie Claire continues to stand by the original post, which the same Mr. Shahryar describes as a masterpiece in the annals of hatred, in more or less words.
“A reputable international magazine for women just came forward and told millions of women that its staff thinks they’re gross. It gave a bigot the platform to come out and hurt millions of people. That is a very big deal,” Mr. Shahryar also says.
It would seem thousands agree – and thousands, including the creator of “Mike & Molly,” Mark Roberts are still waiting for a sincere apology.