It seems that the media has been going crazy about the ultra-thin girls of the new 90210. You guys know that I posted about this when it first premiered and I wasn’t too happy myself. But you know it has to be pretty bad when an actor from another show, that also features pretty thin girls, has something to say about it. Penn Badgley of Gossip Girl was quoted saying “I hope they eat a double cheeseburger or something” when asked about the new 90210 cast.
Popsugar did a poll about whether or not Penn’s comment was out of line and 90% of people said “No”. Although I don’t believe that the girls themselves should be the topic of public gossip, I do think that the producers of the show should take some responsibility for the images of beauty they are portraying. As I stated in my earlier post and as many of you agreed, young girls watch this show and whether we like it or not, feel they have to emulate what they see on TV. Personally, I don’t want any teenage girl that I know looking at those girls and thinking they are something to emulate.
The sad thing is, I remember seeing these girls in other movies/shows that they did before 90210, and although they were obviously thin, they didn’t look so frail and gaunt looking. I just think that at some point someone has got to take some responsibility. And I just can’t shake the nagging feeling that the producers of this show on some level wanted this mass media coverage. If they were going for shock and awe, well that is definitely the response they are getting.
…Whoever the “woman” in the black dress is, I would contribute to any fund which might buy her some sort of cheeseburger.
I put “woman” in quotes because a)I don’t know how old she is (if she’s still technically an adolescent, perhaps she hasn’t had time to develop yet?) and b)as thin as she is, she’s barely existing at all! Damn!
Also: here in the 21st-century, with the miracle of Photoshop, why is it that nobody saw fit to “erase” her unfortunately-placed tattoo? !! It only draws attention to her skeletal ribs.
* : (
New Ugly Betty this Thursday….I can’t wait!! ~ wheee! ~
Since we’re talking about TV, does anyone else like Ugly Betty?
It is definitely a show which tries to call attention to the pitfalls of the Fashion Industry and addresses the inner beauty/outer beauty issues most people (women anyways) deal with on a daily basis.
Also I love that Betty is far from the “beauty ideal” yet commands respect from the world-at-large for her good heart and solid personal values. And currently has not one but TWO men pursuing her on the show! Go, Betty!
hope, my problem with ugly betty is that they put a gorgeous girl in a bad haircut/wig/whatever, some unfortunate glasses and braces, and clothes that don’t fit her body and call her ugly.
i want that show with betty played by someone who isn’t conventionally beeeeyootiful. but that’s just me.
Well. it still makes me feel bad that I gained weight back even if it IS mostly muscle and I’m a grown ass Woman!!
You’d think I would have cared about this when I was an obese teenager but noooo, I don’t get bit by the bug ’til I’m way older..nice…
Ugh, I don’t have the mental energy for this!
I bought US Weekly and was gonna blog about these girls, but they’re just such obvious subjects… I cringed the first time I saw the girl playing Annie. Yes, I watch the show. I was a 90210 junkie the first time around, too. LOL.
I was horrified, and I guess because she is dressed more revealingly in the show (meaning not baggy clothes and layers), I didn’t notice much that the other girl was as painfully thin… I know some people are naturally petite, but no one outside of Hollywood is that naturally thin.
What is amazing is how “big” Jennie Garth and Shannen Daugherty look compared to these two. It’s crazy! They’re probably a size 2/4 at most, but they look curvy and womanly big time compared to the other two. They look petite, but HEALTHY.
US Weekly shows a picture of the original cast, and aside from Tori Spelling, none of them seem that tiny. Even she doesn’t look gaunt… just very small boned and slender.
At the end of the day, it’s not fair that these girls should have their jobs on the line (which is what US Weekly claims – and it’s crap, cuz one of them is the star of the damn show) because they’re “too thin.” If it is impacting their work (and “sources” claim it is), then they should be given every chance to get help… not ridiculed or persecuted because of the problem.
Hollywood needs to take responsibility. If they didn’t like how small these two were, they shouldn’t have gone ahead and started filiming… they’re only reacting because of the public outcry.
You know… I don’t think these remarks about the girl “barely existing” or her skeletal ribs or even being frail and gaunt are very helpful.
I look like her, and I eat all the time. I’m healthy and strong, I do karate and yoga, I can punch pretty damn hard and I ride my bike all around town – I just happen to be thin. I can’t help it, just like others can’t help being fat.
I exist, I am not skeletal and I am not frail or gaunt. These are misconceptions and stereotypes that hurt the cause of size activism by being critical of women’s bodies.
THAT SAID, I agree that women of all sizes should be portrayed in television and I don’t think it is healthy to exclusively portray body types that are very difficult to achieve for normal people.
totally agree! Iam the same, I eat all the time but never put the weight on! and girls now a days in the media never seem to be able to get it right, there always too thin or too fat!
maggiemunkeee, I am fairly certain there would be quite an uproar if she was in fact played by someone ‘unconventionally’ beautiful but was called ‘ugly’.
As far as the 90210 girls are concerned… I feel like the producers in hollywood (similar to the fashion industry) definitely should take the bulk of the blame. Without them hiring girls who weight less than 80lbs that ‘ideal’ would not be something all these actresses are striving for.
Well I think they’re doing the best they can…yes, America Ferrera is not ugly in real life…she’s an actress…but even compared to other actresses she bucks the ‘norm’ – rail thin, long blonde extensions and collagen lips…y’know…? America Ferrera is pretty, but she isn’t small, either.
And I really like the other characters on the show too – Amanda the uber-bitchy receptionist, who is searching for her biological father and who binge-eats when under stress….and her openly-gay sidekick, Mark, the cat’s cat of ‘evil’ fairy sidekicks…Betty’s loving supportive family (including her effeminate nephew, who will most likely be gay also)…and just….the way that the “Fashion Industry” is depicted…the incestuous relationship between clothing designers, magazines, models, and advertisers…just a good show, IMO.
I can’t think of a single episode where Betty despairs about her appearance, goes on a diet, talks about her weight, or gets down on herself for not being like all the models in the industry she’s working in. That in itself is cool to me.
Oh, KM…..are you really as small as black-dress-girl in real life?
I notice you didn’t say you were pretty, just asserted your natural small-ness. Hm.
But I can totally identify with your comment….all this rubbish about UGLY people! pfft! I work hard digging trenches for a living, neglect my manicure, get chapped lips, let my roots grow out and I’m STILL drop-dead beautiful. Why just this morning I caused a small traffic accident just bending over to buy a newspaper!
I’m just pretty!
I can’t help it!
The super-high heels and the boobage and the heavy makeup freak me out on the adolescent bodies. Getting awfully close to kiddie porn. I’m less concerned with their size than their mental development.
hope505, I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make. Maybe I’m being dense by not getting it.
Yes, I am as thin as the girl in the black dress. I always have been, no matter how much I tried to gain weight. I tried to gain weight because people called me names and made me feel ashamed by using negative terms about my body. I didn’t say whether or not I was pretty (which I can’t even answer, because I think that’s entirely subjective) because that has nothing to do with my comment, and I am not sure why you’re bringing it up.
*gets the serious face* KM, if you mean the popsicle stick in the black dress , then, sweetie you are not healthy.
Also, whether or not you’re beautiful should not be a question you should think you are. You may have bad day and look a wreck but, you should still love yourself just the same. (Im not trying to preach) but, I was that thin at one point and by no stretch of the imagination was I healthy. I still suffer because of it. Whenever I say I’m not hungry at meal time I am FORCED to eat because my parents are afraid I will have a relapse and this time will die.
I am not saying or even implying that you have an eating disorder. One of my sister’s friends is in your boat, she’s rail thin and eats like there’s no tomorrow.
The sad thing is, the girl in the black dress was on a show called Degrassi. I perhaps may be the only one who watches it though. If I recall right she was kinda thin but, was healthy. Then she hit prime time and *poof* then she got the look of a starving child in Africa. I find that gross and off putting about american television. Why do we put such grotesquely unhealthy of a lifestyle on display as the norm and the “fat” girl is either the bitch, the over-indulging marm, or (my favorite) the girl that was teases for being curvaceous so she screws to feel better about herself (I have seen this a lot but could have brain damage.)
perhaps, the producers wanted to make a show which shows the “perfect life” of teens: a lot of money, lots of friendships and the “current beuty”. i mean, today the phisycally perfect woman is a thin one with a pretty face.
i am also worried that if this show becomes very popular many girls may suffer anorexia, so that they can look like jessica stroup and the other girl (i don’t remember her name)
note: sorry for my english (i am from argentina)
I happen to be naturally thin and live outside Hollywood. My doctor says I am healthy, and 24 Hour Fitness says I am within the range of percent body fat should be for a woman. I am at the bottom of the range, but within it. I look the same as these ladies do. It is just a high metabolism and small bone structure. Stop criticizing!!!
*small body frame* is maybe what I should say, not small bone structure.
Hey, nice tips. Perhaps I’ll buy a bottle of beer to that man from that forum who told me to go to your site
How do you know what these girls like to eat? I’m most likely smaller and I eat a fricken lot. I just happen to have a freakishly high metabolism. And every girl has something they don’t like about themselves. And for me it would be that I’m skinny and can never gain weight. I’m most likely not the only skinny girl who thinks this way.
they bother stated on the tyra banks show that they eat all the time. also my good friend brielle has been at jessica stroup’s photoshooting her and she always takes eating breaks! shes not that skinny! leaave her alone!!!
leave these poor girls alone. they’re beautiful. you can tell by looking at shenae grimes that she is naturally tiny, her head’s even in proportion with her body. for christ’s sake they’re not even that thin. i’ve seen both of them in other roles and they were the same as they are now. everyone is different, obviously in the making of this show they cast the thinnest girls for these parts. i work with a girl who’s even thinner than these girls and she has a hyper thyroid and eats all the time, drinks soda and has even had a kid. in like one month she lost 40 pounds and had no idea how. she got tested and found out that she has a hyper thyroid, which is something that can’t be helped and people are mean to her too.
you never know about these girls, none of you know them personally and never know if it’s a medical condition, hell they might not even know.