Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Too Fat for Fifteen: Fighting Back (Style Network, 2010)


Genre: Reality Television; Drama

Honors: None Found (new show)

Review: Watch overweight and obese teenagers flourish and improve themselves at Wellspring Academy in North Dakota.  Viewers observe a mixture of personal interviews with overweight teenagers and their counselors, nutritionists, and teachers and actual daily events occurring in the academy.  Events include the dreaded weekly weigh-in's, group activities, and the daily routine at the academy, which does occasionally include some major drama.  Viewers, even those with a healthy weight, will relate to the struggles of these young people and understand that even the most difficult problems can be solved through perseverance and hard work. 

Opinion: This show is surprisingly inspirational.  While there is some drama and tears, this is far surpassed by the joy of accomplishment.  I found myself pushing for these teens to succeed and was truly happy for them as they met their goals.  There are some very likable teenagers on this show and they show genuine vulnerability and determination.  The adults at Wellsprings are kind and caring and seem very invested in their students.  Several times while watching this show I thought that it would actually be an interesting and rewarding job to work at Wellspring Academy.  This is one of the better shows on TV today, instead of exploiting people's  problems and belittling them, and therefore trying to encourage hateful drama as many reality shows tend to do, this show actually focuses on positive goal-setting, hard-work, and accomplishment.  


Ideas: This is a fantastic addition to a health education class, especially since obesity is a big health problem today.

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