Isabelle on Weeds

Originally posted at Fatly Yours on Tuesday, June 3, 2008

(sorry, couldn't find any decent-sized, saveable images of Allie Grant. You can check her imdb page.)

Weeds is one of those shows I watch periodically, trying to "get into it". It's not really my brand of humor - everyone's so sarcastic all the time and people seem much more confident than they would be in real life. Then there's the constant need to shock viewers, as if the premise of a housewife selling weed wasn't shocking enough on its own. It all leaves a sort of artificial taste in my mouth.

But there's something I think they depicted pretty well: the character of Isabelle (Allie Grant), a chubby girl of about 11-13, and her relationship with her mother. It's so far from the "fat families" cliché that I found it very refreshing.

Isabelle's mother Celia (Elizabeth Perkins) is one of those acid middle-aged lady characters who sees the whole world with a mixture of contempt and opportunism. Some people adore this kind of character for comedy fodder, while I always come to despise them. I'm not sure how realistic the depiction is; maybe intelligent women who have nothing to do but be rich housewives grow bitter and manipulative, because their brains are being wasted. Either way, Celia doesn't act like she has any warmth in her whatsoever, and on a show like Weeds, redeeming qualities are not needed. She is, as one might guess, not the most loving of mothers as it is (she even regrets not aborting Isabelle's older sister), but her way of dealing with a chubby daughter is interesting.

In the first episode, we see Celia in the audience of Isabelle's soccer practice. During the break, Isabelle comes to her mother, proud of herself and hoping for some support, but instead she gets, "I'd like to see more running, Isa-belly! That's what burns the fat." Isabelle's face falls and she goes away to get something to drink. "Water or sugar-free soda only!" Celia calls after her. All of this in a loud voice in front of Isabelle's team mates.

In a short scene, we've established several unusual, even cliché-breaking, things:
-The mother as a bully
-Slim, weight-conscious mother with a chubby child
-A mother who does all she can to keep the child slim, but clearly doesn't do it out of love for her

This kind of behavior is often restricted to TV mothers of skinny overachievers who turn out to be anorexic. Mothers of fat children are usually depited as fat, clueless and/or junk food addicted. By having a chubby child in the role of Isabelle, the writers of this show might actually be saying that sometimes, even if the child is considered overweight, the mother might in fact be a slim, appearance-obsessed woman who wanted a skinny little princess. In other words, Isabelle's weight isn't shown to be her mother's fault, and the criticism of the mother's behavior is not tied to the child's weight, but rather to her behavior. It could even be read as a criticism of putting children on a diet.

In another episode, Celia finds a chocolate stash from Isabelle's room (cliché, but understandable - I'd hide chocolate too if I were her daughter). Instead of confronting her daughter about it, Celia decides to switch the chocolates with chocolate-flavored laxative bars. This causes an unfortunate incident at school, which leaves Isabelle feeling completely humiliated. Her father Doug is caring and compassionate, while Celia stays distant. She tells Doug in private that Isabelle got diarrhea because "she is a little pig", and admits her deed without any shame whatsoever. Doug is furious and horrified at his wife: "They called her shit girl!" This doesn't faze Celia. "Better shit girl than fat girl," she says. She tells him that, unfortunately, they live in a world where skinny is admired, and she doesn't want her daughter to live her life scorned for being fat. Doug takes his pillow and blanket and goes downstairs to sleep, quipping at her, "I hope our children survive you!" In her room, Isabelle has heard everything. The morning after, she's shown changing her mom's laxatives into something else. At the breakfast table - Isabelle's breakfast: half a grapefruit -, Doug asks her compassionately if she's feeling better. "I am now," Isabelle says meaningfully, a line always used to show that a TV character is up to mischief. When Celia gets constipated, Doug is openly glad to see her suffer and calls it karma. Isabelle is shown grinning in her room that her plot was a success.

While there are some things about this episode that I'd criticize - the focus on defecating, Isabelle's unrealistic confidence in her revenge (or is it just meant to show she's her mother's daughter?) -, it stands out as another, more obvious example of parental cruelty. Celia is not happy with Isabelle's body, and is willing to manipulate her through humiliation. Perhaps she was hoping to wean her daughter of chocolate through this incident. It would be hard for even the most diet-minded person to defend her behavior with a concern for the child's health. It becomes obvious that Celia is concerned with appearances - not necessarily Isabelle's either, but her own. She sees her daughter as a reflection of herself; she does not want to be the mother of a "fat girl", and if Isabelle were bullied for something, she'd rather it be for shitting her pants than for being fat. Obviously, to Celia, there is nothing worse than a fat girl.

While the show itself seems shocking in a forced way, and there's certainly an element of that in these scenes too, I must say it's one of the most real-seeming depictions of a slim domineering Mom. Real life Moms like this might be less obvious, less willing to give their daughters diarrhea as a lesson - but the underlying issue, the need to have a "normal" daughter, is the same.

Isabelle is also apparently a lesbian. Awesome. Maybe I should start watching the show again.