In this op-ed, entertainment news editor Claire Dodson unpacks why people are upset about the trailer for Netflix's new show Insatiable, and examines the ways society turns fat people into a punchline without the help of a comedy series.

Earlier this week, the trailer for Netflix’s upcoming comedy series Insatiable premiered on this very website. As a fat person, it was hard to watch the trailer and not have some feelings about the portrayal of a fat teenager named Patty (played by the not fat Debby Ryan, donning a truly ridiculous fat suit for part of the role) who then loses the weight to ostensibly become a beauty queen. Those feelings were shared by some viewers almost immediately after the trailer came out. People on Twitter began criticizing the trailer for the way it appeared to perpetuate problematic tropes about weight loss.

The plot of Insatiable is outrageous: Patty is bullied at her high school for being fat until she’s punched in the face by a homeless man (over a candy bar, because FAT!) and is then forced to have her jaw wired shut while she heals, unable to eat. When she finally emerges from her accident, she is skinny and bent on exacting revenge on everyone who has wronged her. It is a “revenge body” fantasy and it’s probably supposed to be sarcastic, but it’s also the most tired and done-to-death story about a fat girl who gets skinny to exact revenge.

As a result, people are calling for the show’s cancellation.

One person wrote that, based on the trailer, Insatiable “promotes fat-shaming, teaches young people that if you don’t eat, you’ll become skinny and desirable, romanticizes revenge fantasies, and shows that you’re only deserving of love and popularity if you fall into society’s definition of beauty.” Another person criticized the “before and after” dynamic: “Fat girls are not your before. fat girls are not your torture porn. fat girls are so much more than whatever the f*ck this bullsh*t is @netflix @insatiable.” Comedian and writer Avery Edison wrote, “You don’t get to defend any part of your show as ‘body positive’ if a single second of it features an actor in a fat suit.” And a scholar and activist who studies fat stigma wrote, “I can unequivocally say that this series will do serious damage to the lives of fat teenagers who may watch the show.”

Systemic fat-shaming literally puts the lives of fat people at stake. It’s documented that fat people receive worse medical care — the New York Times has reported that many hospitals don’t have equipment for heavier people, and that doctors are more likely to blame a fat person’s illness on their weight than look for underlying causes. Fat people are also discriminated against in everything from dating to clothing to the job market — and the law doesn’t actually protect people from being fired for their weight, either. Our society needs to be held accountable for how it treats fat people, and it’s understandable if some of these wounds are too recent for people to necessarily find humor in them.