Drop Dead Diva – or How Josh Berman Could Be My Hero

I’ve been a “larger” woman my whole life (my spurt of being a single digit size didn’t last very long and mentally never made the whole shift to “thin” body image). Beside the point. I have read some of the “plus size romances” and wanted to scream. Seriously, one of my favorite methods of mythical murder is beating an author to death with his or her own book.

Then I started seeing the promo’s for Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva. And I was all prepared to hate the show. Thin, shallow girl dies gets put in the body of a smart, successful, “Plus Size” lawyer. Ready for the “must get thin at any cost”, jokes at fat girls storylines. You know the drill. The fat girl’s the comic relief.

Then I started writing about the show for my Day Job. And read what the male creator, Josh Berman, really wants to help change entertainment body image. So I’m giving the show a shot. Two episodes in… and there’s a lot of potential. Totally “normal”, real life, body image challenges are addressed honestly and sincerely – no patronizing, no quick fixes.

This episode had her dealing with feeling like a “thin, pretty girl” when no one else sees her that way. It would be a radically different world if every woman, no matter what her size, saw herself as a “thin, pretty girl”. Do you know that our society would have a whole lot fewer eating disorders and “obesity” problems if unrealistic body images weren’t continually pounded into adults, teens, and even children if “fat” wasn’t a “4-Letter-Word”.

Thank you, Mr. Berman, Lifetime, and especially you, Ms. Brooke Elliot for taking stand.

Tags: body image, Drop Dead Diva, Lifetime