Insatiable is a TV show that has hit the Internet by storm, racking up hundreds of views and low scores since its release on Aug. 10, 2018. So far, with a rating of only 11 percent on one of the Internet’s most trusted reviewers, Rotten Tomatoes, Insatiable is picked apart because of the message it seems to send.

“Since the show’s debut on Netflix, a petition calling on Insatiable‘s cancellation has accumulated over 200,000 signatures,” according to the Independent UK. The plot brings up serious, controversial mental health issues.

The show begins with an overweight teenage girl named Patty Bladell who is being bullied by her peers for being ‘too fat’ thus making her ‘ugly.’ Punched in the face by a homeless man who calls her fat results in her jaw being wired shut for three months. She then experiences extreme weight loss, and instantly Bladell becomes ‘popular’ and ‘hot.’

“It’s an attempt at satire and to make light of uncomfortable topics but it just failed so miserably. So insensitive,” senior Emily Kassner-Marks from Sonoma Academy said.

For many teens struggling with eating disorders and weight issues, this show seems to promote that being thin is what matters and will make you more attractive.

Bladell instantly gains friends and uses her looks to manipulate people in her life. Once she loses weight, pageant shows begin, and she is now acceptable.

“The show says that Patty is a ‘loser’ with only one friend when she is overweight. The only reason people like her now that she’s considered pretty is because she lost weight,” senior Emma
Ghanizadeh said.

A popular show like this with a well-known actress for teens to admire should think twice about the message it sends regarding self-love and body image.

“It just sends a message that the only way to get skinny is in an unhealthy way. When you do become skinny you turn into a mean girl and being mean is okay because there is hardly any consequences,” senior Georgia Little said.

It is important for people to stand up to TV shows like this one, and create a conversation on how to deal with important health issues like this, but in a positive and helpful way.

Now, it’s up to Netflix and whether it wants to ignore the complaints against its production, or take action and take the show off the net.