Ryan also said that she and the show’s writer and showrunner, Lauren Gussis, felt it was important that in scenes where Patty was heavier, her size was not used “as a punchline” and the abuse the character suffers is never justified.
Gussis also put out her own statement on Twitter, saying that she was suicidal as a teen and that she wanted revenge on her own bullies. She said this caused her to develop an eating disorder and “the kind of rage that makes you want to do dark things.”
“This show is a cautionary tale about how damaging it can be to believe the outsides are more important — to judge without going deeper,” Gussis wrote. “Please give the show a chance.”
Still, users on Twitter are already criticizing “Insatiable.”
“What purpose do the false sexual assault accusations in the script serve, though?” actress Mara Wilson wrote, seemingly responding to an undisclosed plot line in the show.
In a Twitter thread, Nabela Noor, a beauty vlogger, wrote that the trailer “repelled” her, and asked for a show where an overweight girl loves herself as she is.
“How in any world is weight loss from a jaw being forced shut inspiring? Do they know what implies?” Noor wrote, adding in her final post that she hopes the show will still surprise her.
Netflix, which declined to comment on the backlash around “Insatiable,” recently received criticism from mental health experts following the debut of the second season of its original series “13 Reasons Why.” The first and second season of the series had graphic depictions of suicide, sexual assault, drug use and gun violence, all involving teens.
If you or someone you know wants to speak with a mental health professional, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or the National Eating Disorder Helpline at 1-800-931-2237.