Celebrity Fit Club 3
I viewed VH1's Celebrity Fit Club 3 on the TV Guide Network. This one hour reality show follows eight celebrities on two teams of four as they go through "fit camp" and face public weigh-ins in front of three judges consisting of their physical trainer, a psychologist, and a doctor. The most dramatic event of the show set in a grand hall and dimly lit with candles is the weigh-in which takes up 30 minutes of the hour long time slot. Each celebrity is weighed individually and then they are weighed as teams. The team weigh-in is done on a giant set of old fashioned scales complete with fog machine to dramatize the moment. The team that wins (loses the most weight) will win a cash grand prize.
This reality tv show promotes the idea that people have to be thin in order to be beautiful. The panel of judges gives each celeb a target weight loss goal that they must reach by the next weigh in. By other people telling them the amount of weight they must lose takes a person's control of their own looks out of their hands. The judges then have control of what this person is supposed to look like in order to be beautiful. By breaking the celebrities into teams and having them compete for money makes weight loss and sex appeal out to be competitions for the everyday person as well. They must mentally compete with those celebrities in order to physically look like they do in order to be sexy and beautiful.
Most astounding are the women in the show who weigh around 170-180 pounds. They are on a weight loss show which immediate labels them as overweight. The women, especially Tempest and Kelly, look fit, healthy, and attractive. However, they are still told to continue losing weight in order to pursue new roles in their careers. Another celeb on the show is Countess Vaughn. She weighed in on this show at 126lbs after losing four pounds from the previous weigh-in. Since she reached her goal weight loss she was offered a glamorous photo shoot from Smooth Magazine and the judges informed her that she must lose another 3lbs to prepare for the shoot. Apparently for Hollywood, even 126 pounds is not thin enough for their celebrities.
The image of woman on this show is especially alarming. The celebrities that look fit and healthy are constantly told they must continue to lose weight in order to maintain their jobs. The Americans that watch these shows and that look up to stick thin celebrities like this show promotes feel that they too must be this thin in order to have sex appeal. These shows do not support a healthy lifestyle like they purport to do, instead they support the idea that thin equals beautiful. Additionally, the winning team is awarded money which tells the viewer that more sex appeal equals more money and that you have to be thin to have sex appeal.
The commercials between segments of the show also promote these ideas of weight loss and beauty. They are advertising weight loss plans and pills mixed with health foods and sexy perfume ads. The combined effect of these commercials is the same as the message of the show: you have to be thin to be beautiful.