Fat Friends

I only recently found this show, almost a quarter of a century after it first aired.

Whilst the show is vey much a product of its time, a lot of the comedy is still relatable and there are some fantastic characters.

It is a window on how much society has changed... Carol, the spiky slimming club leader, is nasty and spiteful towards her members, behaviour which wouldn't wash nowadays.

The show starts off almost as an anthology series, with each episode focusing on the life of one of the main characters on the show, with the other characters playing supporting roles.

As the show progresses, the format changes into a more regular drama with Betty (Alison Steadman) and Kelly (Ruth Jones) and their respective families becoming the main focus of the show.

Series 1 and 2 are very strong, for the final 2 series, the character development goes a little off course and they resort to stunt plot lines to keep the show going. Some of the character behaviour seems a little off, sacrificing the character for the sake of story.

One of the annoying things is how the show loses characters, in most cases, with no or little explanation, through the run of the series. Many of the new characters that were introduced later on didn't feel as well developed as the originals.

Overall, it's a fun, enjoyable comedy drama set at the beginning of the 2000s with a window to that era.

I stumbled upon Fat Friends while, trawling through Netflix programmes, and decided to give it a go. Its not a traditional comedy show, in that it blends humour with tragedy.

Fat Friends is really the stories, of totally different people, whose lives are intertwined, by family, friendships, work, and their social lives.

I think that it gives a human perspective of weight, of how it impinges on our lives, and those of our family, friends, colleagues, and the local community.

I think that its both funny and moving, as I laugh with the real people, and feel for and empathise with them, throughout their trials and tribulations, the actors really are their characters, as fully rounded human beings.

Slimming is truly a business a global phenomenon, there are seemingly innumerable Diets, with various dietary and slimming aids, including pills and potions.

'Expert Opinion' proliferates through magazine, newspaper columns, and individual books, all professing to provide "all of the most demanding questions and queries".

Huge fortunes made are by companies, that seek to cash in on the slimming phenomenon, many of whom are not content to rely on, traditional advertising and marketing, to ensure their profit margins. They either get involved in existing Slimming clubs or societies, or else they launch their own, not necessarily directly linked to them, but acting as subsidiaries.

Weight has for far too long been seen, as something of a vexed topic, certainly in western societies, principally this revolves around body image. Of how people see themselves, and of how other people, see or perceive them.

Looks are of prime importance in western societies, with expectations of personal appearance, being foisted on us all, everywhere we look, from the very day we are born.

Much of this is done in more of a subliminal way, and it's not really simply a modern phenomenon, aspects of it are actually quite ancient, in their theories and practices.

The ideas of what women and men, are supposed to be as human beings, of what roles we are supposed to perform in society, is perhaps the oldest consideration of all.

But our appearance follows this intrinsically, within the considerations of body weight, women have born the brunt, of those who seek to be Opinion Makers, and see it as way to ensure a hefty profit. The notion of the 'Body Beautiful' is persistently promoted, through advertising on the telly, and in women's magazines. This is continually emphasised through, the images of the so called 'Ideal Woman' as appearing as, television presenters, news readers, chefs, weather 'Girls'. All of the jobs that the male television executives, imagine that women may be called on to perform, in front of the camera for the viewing populace.

When it comes to advertising, the women who stand a cat in hells, chance of even being considered, are those who fit a narrowly defined, category of what is supposed to be aesthetically pleasing. But to whom are the andvertisers approaching, just who is the target audience?

Men have been the owners, and managers of the businesses, who make and sell the ideas, and the products, as well as the television, film companies, magazines and newspapers, that so assiduously promotes them.

Yes in deed many roles that have, hitherto been male bastions, are now being undertaken by women, but in reality just how much autonomy, are they really allowed to perform? Possibly much more importantly, whose ideas and notions are being pursued, to what extent are women able to decide for themselves, what ideas are promoted?

It's not for nothing that the issues, relating to weight and women, of how they perceive themselves, and of how they are perceived, is a topic of intense debate, as the consideration, that 'Fat is a feminist issue'.

As important and essential is the understanding, of how weight is a weapon aimed at women, it is not an issue that is confined to women, the attitudes towards men though different, also have a detrimental effect, on the people concerned.

The images that pervade of men, where their weight is concerned, largely figure them as objects of fun, and scorn, the typical calls of "tubby" or even of "lard arse" are all to common. Blokes are supposed to consider such terms, as merely being a matter of cheerful banter, and expected to simply laugh it off, that is at the very least, else they be victimised.

From the earliest movies the image, of the bloke with the ample figure, has been presented as the jovial fatty, film stars were made of Rosco Arbuckle, and Oliver Hardy. The film company was unable to, resist emphasising Arbuckle's size, by inserting the word Fatty, between his forename and surname, in all of his promotional advertising.

Laurel and Hardy were really promoted, on the juxtaposition of little and large, a thin Stan Laurel combined with the larger Oliver Hardy, the weight differences between them, was meant by the film company, to emphasise the humour of the situation.

Yes we the viewers were caught, up in the humour, and did we see the big bloke, as a figure of ridicule?

Slimming advertising has often made use of, the before and after scenario, of what the person looks like before, they embark on their slimming quest, and after they have achieved their goal. This device is very much, a double edged sword in its application, it's meant at outset to act as an inducement, to proceed with the slimming process.

But once the person has become a slimmer, it is used as more of personal jibe, to shame and castigate them, into toeing the line.

The carrot and stick approach, is a common aspect, of slimming clubs and courses, slimmers are given Goals, and Rewards, to both encourage them, to continue, and convince them that the whole endeavour, is really worth their time and effort.

The Stick, being the public naming and shaming, before their fellow club members, of any faltering and above all of their failures.

I've never actually watched it until now! Even though I love Gavin and Stacy, I never knew some of the cast were in this, too. Now, the first 2 series were perfect. Heartfelt. Beautifully written. However, I have to agree with the other reviewer that the 3rd and particularly the 4th series just missed this spark. That being said, they were both very enjoyable to watch and I would happily watch them again. I love this kind of UK drama and Kay Mellow shows here that she is one of the best writers of this genre around!

As if I didn't hate soap operas enough, I thought that I would utterly detest "Fat Friends" because the main plot is basically about people who are... well, yeah, fat. But what a relieve this was: not only was the subject matter per episode much more interesting than the usual "who slept with whom" in your average drama series, I was surprised to actually see some REAL ACTING on the screen! So they're fat. Who gives a ***. When I watched the show I never had the feeling that I was being forced to take in some kind of moral stance on the "fat issue", but instead I was swept away in the everyday life of the main characters, who go through things and encounter problems that could happen to anyone (divorce, distrust, insecurity, anorexia in the family, being teased etc.). Mostly thanks to the magnificent acting, and the matter-of-factness in style (not a lot of make-up, no overkill in violin-music in dramatic scenes, etc.). A welcome change from the "overdone" melodramas that crowd all TV-channels nowadays (Dutch people like to criticize American TV-series for being too mushy, but Dutch dramas are a lot worse...). I think this "natural thing" in TV and film is something the British are good at. Keep up the good work, guys.

I watched this with my mum who is going through slimming world at the moment and we both agreed that it is so relatable. The show markets itself as a comedy about a group of people going through a weight loss group.

The one thing I liked about the show the most is that it really feels like an ensemble piece; each main character gets their own episode so we were really able to see the personal issues they were all facing. No character felt like they were 'more important' than the others. Not only this, but in these episodes we were able to see how they struggled not only with weight but also with other things. We saw issues with relationships, religion, financial stress as well as a variety of eating disorders too.

The show did well at humanising all of the characters and not making them seem like greedy monsters which a lot of other shows about fat people seem to do. Furthermore, the show managed to exaggerate things and add comedic value in all the right places and overall, it's just a really great dramatic comedy that hits all the right places.