kicotan

Just wanted to throw in another “change” for this plural marriage that Kody doesn’t seem to get, that I forgot to mention in my post upthread: Janelle is 50, Meri is 49, Christine, is 48, Robyn is 41. The average age of menopause is 51. Most women start to notice perimenopause symptoms in their 40’s. Tons of research has been done identifying not just physical but psychological issues, mostly temporary, that many women face during this time. In other words, these bitches might just have something going on with them, emotionally and psychologically, as aging women, other than not getting enough attention/being jealous of attention showed to others from their shared husband. I’ll bet their stage in life of declining fertility, hormonal rollercoasters and the associated physical, psychological and emotional issues they face from that won’t be mentioned. Geez why can’t these broads just “figure it out”, like Kody said? LOL!!!

Bingo! Geeeee, what changed? A whole bunch of kids grew up and got out. 12 of the 18 are now 18 or older. Meri’s a loner who cheated on her spouses. They sold their souls to The Reality Television God/desses. They constantly bite off more than they can financially, logistically and realistically chew. Why can’t they rotate dinner where everybody goes to one wife’s house and they all eat and play board games, next night, different wife’s house and so on? That way everybody gets to see everybody for dinner every night. They could even draw slips of paper with days of the week out of a hat so no one could complain they got assigned a shitty night. No? I think it’s great that Janelle booked a private dining room to have a heart to heart with the family instead of a therapists office. They’ve bought enough insight over the years to be able to put some of it to use outside the office.

Exactly. Mean spirited is mean spirited, regardless of gender identity or experience. Everyone has baggage ~ best to leave it outside the werk room. Mr kicotan is convinced that the only reason they are keeping Kandy on is for the shit-stirring drama...and I’m inclined to agree only because she has not brought anything to the table on the runway or the challenges but attitude. In the beginning, Ru went on about there not being losers...really, none of this season’s queens lose by having exposure on the show. I think the top three have already been decided.

It’s not a popular perspective, but... In my experience, the public and or non-religion owned hospitals are shoddy/forced out of business because they can’t compete with the ones owned by religious, non-profit businesses that don’t have the same tax burden, access to bulk supply inventory, etc. The ones that are owned by religious entities then dominate the community, imposing their religious principles upon the standard of care and limiting the number of beds available. Looking at you, Dignity Health. Unfortunately it is one of the many reasons that healthcare in our country is in such a shitty state of affairs...monopolies of tax-exempt entities are reaping billions of dollars controlling the number of available beds and the level of care one can receive according to their religious principles. I only wish they would have been bold enough to expose it by revealing that the only way to keep the hospital open was to sell out to the Catholic system...and in turn they would let Nic die, according to the new religious rules that prohibit any lifesaving efforts for the mother that compromise the baby. THAT would have been an Emmy winning episode. Oh, well.

So, Maddie could be 38...(JLH is 41 IRL) born in 1983. The picture was from 1988...she’d have been 5. Daniel could have been born in 1984. Making him 4 in the picture. Buck wasn’t born yet, so let’s say Buck is 27...(Oliver Stark is 29 IRL) born in 1994. Plenty of time for a “savior sibling” scenario although not heard of much in 1994. Indeed. My parents kept secrets and told lies, had my oldest brother keep them, too(he was 15 when I was born) from my other siblings. They had their reasons and I’ve been lucky enough to get therapy for my trust issues over finding out the truth. Good on Evan/Buck for getting help.

You give her and the show too much credit...it’s beyond being flip or at whim. If you test negative for COVID-19 today, you could test positive for it tomorrow. I don’t care how long ago they filmed it, that’s NameYourVirus101. I find it ridiculous that she uses a recent (within 48 hours?) Covid-19 test as the pass/fail for socializing without masks or distancing. Also, shame on the show for putting forth the idea that ONE negative test result from a sample collected days ago means tomorrow I can have an orgy for 50 in my backyard swapping all manor of excretions with no concern anyone attending won’t test positive/show symptoms tomorrow. It’s irresponsible. If your test came back negative today, you 100% quarantined for two weeks and then had another test to come back negative...well, chances are you are good to attend my orgy/religious services/friend getaway/etc. without masks/social distancing. On another note, Whitney, the show and her barnacles gear up and march out with the crew to support the idea that one should push oneself to physical exertion (the hike) when Whitney reports being counseled to the contrary by her doctor. Did anyone ask if she’d been declared officially off the DL?

It ain’t rocket science, Whitney. If you are 5’2”...322 or above is not an ideal Fabulous Life. Weight Loss Surgery? How would you have a big fat fabulous life if you care about how fat you are? “Are you trying to get pregnant right now?” (Asked by virtual appointment weight loss surgery consult contact). Why is getting pregnant such an issue? She wants to be some kind of beacon of hope for fat chicks that get shamed? Epic fail. It’s 2021, fertility isn’t necessarily a barometer of female success in this society, thank everything Holy.

My mom was a nurse for 50 years-everything from ER to OR. She said as soon as the patient was out, most of the talk wasn’t about the operation. Unfortunately the medical profession has plenty of self absorbed, incredibly selfish people more interested in the bottom line or their career than patient health. Mega-monopolies of private, non profit health corporations control access to healthcare, as well as the actions of their staff, sometimes based on religious principle first and patient care, second. Looking at you, Dignity Health.

So the tank is all fueled up and loaded with ammo as it sits in the museum? Just ready to go? I obviously am not a fan because I had to look up who was being replaced...ohhh yeah, now I remember Liv Tyler’s character. Yawwwwwn

Indeed, it is very complicated. It annoys me when shows like this try to push the One True Way of Inequality as WASP vs non-white. It absolutely isn’t the time for any TV show that wants to remain popular to unpack the myth of universal white supremacy in America...that all “whites” here have been equal. My favorite line from season 4 of Fargo: “You might not be black, but you ain’t “white” (speaking to the Irish and Italian experience, coming to America). There is also distinct history of discrimination between Italians and Sicilians in America. I’m not sure if Carisi is Northern Italian/Southern Italian or full on Sicilian...but I say this because Mr. kicotan is half Italian/ half Sicilian. He grew up going to Atlantic City in the summers between 1955 and 1965 with segregated beaches. Sicilians weren’t allowed to be in the Italian section-they had to be on the other side of where the African American section was. I was born what folks would look at and consider a WASP, except there isn’t one recorded crossing of my ancestors to these shores. The colonial process of illegal trafficking of white children from their mother country of England to North American colonies obviously wasn’t on the books. Only one book mentions it-the dictionary-as the origin of the word kidnap. And yet, here I am...not one smidge of Irish according to Ancestry.com...just a white mutt.

“ Do I do this so like, people will like me?” Well...lots of adults spend lots of money to alter their appearance because they want to be or remain a certain “attractive” that others are drawn to so that people will either like them, love them, admire them, want to have sex with them, become their fans, purchase their merchandise, go on their cruise, subscribe to their monthly channel/website or watch their insidious television program. BL: Whitney and her barnacles depend on their TLC direct deposit and/or fame from being on the show that they can pimp out elsewhere. Example: It was revealed in this episode that Buddy is signing a lease with Whitney in Charlotte for 7 months while maintaining an apartment in Greensboro. I’m unaware of any income for Buddy other than unemployment and the show. Its been a few years since Whitney’s opportunities opened up by going viral with Todd in a big fat fabulous dance video. I think it was Ashley that said “people change, times change, plans change” and that Whitney “tried to change the world”. (This is the part in the script that teases the viewer to be curious about the change...or if there will be a change at all.) Might be a good time to change it up and succumb to the reality that her obesity isn’t fabulous...get some therapy, eat right, exercise regularly ~she can reinvent herself being the change she wants to see in the world. She could get therapy to work out why she thinks being fat instead of just being a bitch keeps her from making friends or a baby. Might be good for another season or 2? Reminds me of Kiss Unmasked/1983...so disappointing.

Exactly. If they want to run with reality, then be consistent with the mask wearing social distancing rest of us. If not, then don’t even include it in the narrative. She’s pregnant on the show...so now it’s ok for her to wear something other than black and show off her figure, where as before, she’s just another woman that after the passage of time, is a more full figured gal and should cover that up by wearing black, unflattering garments. Sorry, I’m a costumer and it bugs me when any woman on a TV show who doesn’t look like they turned 18 yesterday or is pregnant becomes relegated to black suit jackets and baggy clothing.

So now that Maddie is pregnant she doesn’t have to wear all black with an emphasis on covering up. She can proudly show off her figure. Ugh. I wonder if it’s the show or her that decides that. With all due respect, I wish more shows were like that. TV shows like 9-1-1 are fiction, not “reality TV”. Many folks (me included) watch programs to relax and enjoy the story, to escape for a brief period of time to a fictional place. If I wanted to see complete mask compliance and social distancing in action I’d watch the local news or go for a ride.

I’m not privy to the financial aspects, but sex workers, not models, being victims of rape and abuse is definitely not an uncommon occurrence. The uptick in webcam work instead of street corner work would make me invest in security, if I was so inclined to pursue sex work, as a cost of doing business and I’d encourage any webcam sex worker to do the same. Now, if she’s a webcam model just posing in lingerie, that might be a bit different, but the one portrayed on this episode was engaging in sex work.

Well, they have a competition formula to go by...that’s their main writing objective. They might use the soap opera sequence from time to time to spice things up, but Twit’s Big Fat Fabulous life is pure soap opera.

If it was my job, I’d insist on it. If I was just doing it for fun, probably not.

Because MBFFL is a scripted “reality” show...one step away from a soap opera in that real names, locations and familial ties are used. A soap opera has a formula. The protagonist (Twit) needs an antagonist (Ryan) for the formula to work. “...The “Soap Opera Formula” still exists NOT because writers are lazy and can’t be bothered to invent new ideas, but because IT WORKS. It has proven its value to marketers and media producers the world over for attracting readers, viewers, followers and subscribers...” “...The idea is broken down into four stages: Setting the Stage: This is your introduction, your backstory. This is where you lay out all the information we need to know about this plot-line to move forward. You’ll notice — as fiction writers, we don’t want to tell everything right now. We don’t need the whole back-story, the complete family history, or an in-depth psychological profile right now. We only what to know enough to advance the plot. Introducing High Drama: This section is where we push the story along and up the ante — raise the stakes for our protagonist. We show our protagonist struggling unsuccessfully against the antagonist, what or whoever that is... It could be a character flaw, an addiction (which is NOT a character flaw, by the way, though it can make for a great big load of pathos), the machinations of a much more powerful antagonist. Whatever the struggle is against, it must have dramatic punch. It must really mean something to the protagonist as well as to the reader/viewer. We have to care that the protagonist may not succeed. Epiphany: The epiphany can be a slow growing realization or a true burst of light — the moment in which our protagonist is brought face to face with the problem and achieves a break-through. This is often an inner awakening, a breakthrough in self-knowledge, but it could also be the inside track on the antagonist’s weakness or a map to the treasure. Call to Action: For marketers, or those with a product to sell, this is where you ask people to sign up or give their email, or read your blog, buy your book, etc. For our purposes, this is the point at which the protagonist MUST move forward. Like it or not, regardless of the odds we have stacked against them...” https://medium.com/publishous/how-to-exploit-the-soap-opera-sequence-284606ae9d40

That dress was NOT from the 80’s, sorry...not even 1989. I had so hoped that the disclaimer upfront meant we could finally have some TV entertainment that didn't HAVE to incorporate COVID 19 reality amidst the other glaring fictional aspects-like that dress being a wedding dress from the eighties. Oh well.

Again with the randomly applied mask situations,UGH. IRL I doubt it’s optional in THE City for jury members, lawyers, judges & police officers, especially in court. Carisi: “ ok everybody mask up we’re taking the subway”...like you wouldn’t “mask up” at the office, or in a taxi. Please. The Main thing I didn’t like about this episode was that the perp waved his freak flag all over the courtroom...as if whew, what a relief that it’s only the truly obsessed and psychotic that violate clearly defined boundaries. I’d have liked it better if the slime ball kept himself juuuuuuust under the radar, like most of them do and wasn’t convicted. Cam girls should be encouraged to have a security person over there in the corner off cam, just in case...not lulled into a false sense of security that only the psycho guy who couldn’t even control himself in a courtroom is the least of her worries.

I personally think it is a prop dog...that’s why it is always looking off camera at it’s trainer and trying to get away from Whitney. https://www.performinganimaltroupe.com/dogs/large-dogs.html

I noticed it too and I believe this episode was written with heavy overtones of the importance of changing the dynamic between the one seeking Dr. Now’s help and the enabler(s)/family members/paid caregivers,etc. Chris was recruited from the first meeting with the Dr. Maybe he’s going for a kinder gentler Dr. Now persona. Continuing therapy was prescribed for them as a couple and then individual therapy added to that for what, compared to the usual patient, seemed like a stretch for the “emotional issues” driving her out of control eating habit. Or am I wrong and that was the point? She didn’t need specialized counseling as a victim of childhood rape/molestation-no need to confront the alcoholic/physically abusive and/or absent parent. Her mom doted on her brother more...she disappointed her mother by not being cheerleader material + getting pregnant before marriage. In my limited experience that’s typically anorexia or bulimia boxes being checked with a heavy dose of therapy prescribed. I still vote for The Dr. Now Rehabilitation and Weight Loss Center, inpatient and outpatient one stop shop for the next season. Mr. Kicotan votes for wiring their mouths shut. What can I say, he’s from Jersey-go figure.

Count me in! Loved it! Preach!!! It’s like the “Guiding Light” of unRealityTV. All she needs is for her clone to show up.

I can not STAND the “My doctor told me not to exercise because I had the first panic attack in my life” schtick she’s putting out there. That attitude is so very contradictory to every doctor’s advice I’ve ever heard. So now she can’t lose weight because PCOS, she can’t exercise because she MIGHT have a panic attack so bad she has to go to the ER, she can’t eat healthy because lazy...my suspension of disbelief is broken folks.

I liked the interjection of the empath. There’s more to medicine than scientifically based tests and procedures...as much as Lim likes to gloat to the contrary. Buggy things about this episode: Jordan should have been cleaning out her locker as soon as she refused to do her job as a doctor because religion. Obviously the hospital isn’t owned by Dignity Health, so she could always apply there if she wants to be certain she’ll never have to participate in medical procedures that go against her religion. Her capitulation, then balking when it came time to doctor up should have been the absolute final straw. Instead of apologizing, with her personal sob story, she should have resigned. Ben dismissed being prescribed Gabapentin and Dilaudid because opioids make him “a little insane”. Dilaudid is an opiod, but Gabapentin isn’t. Nobody pointed that out to him. Shaun should have been cleaning out his locker when he refused to teach because he’s “bad at it”...his need for his supervision to be supervised is sweet and all that, but should he have to have his hand held at this point? Sex toys on his superior’s desk because he’s having trouble picking out the right gift to give for his first time as a boyfriend? Lim asked for that ending...recklessly driving a $16,000 Italian motorcycle...although her leather should have been scuffed up a bit more.