I don’t watch the show, but I watch a lot of stuff on Fox, so I’ve seen the promos. I have no opinion about the show’s premise, but why does he have to be a big FAT obnoxious fiance? Is fat inherently obnoxious? I don’t think it is. Why can’t he be conventionally good-looking, but obnoxious in every other way?
They’d never dare to do this with a woman (would they?) but man or woman, it’s still not cool. I can only assume that they want the BFOF to fit the Comic Store Guy stereotype, but that’s what it is: a stereotype.
No, I don’t expect a whole lot better from a Fox reality show. But it bothers me all the same. And, it further bothers me that I have to resign myself to the fact that this kind of crap sells.
The title is a rif on the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and after that, tv show “MBFG Life”. Get it?
How something you’ve never seen offends you, I guess I don’t get it. shrug But it’s really damn funny. Can’t wait to see how much more they mess with her elitist family.
Best. Reality show. Ever.
Tonight was simply amazing. I’m not kidding. Steve showed he could charm her family before going in for the kill. Fat Schmat. The title was obviously lifted from the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
I don’t care if “all reality shows are scripted”, I’ve always hated the same old actors doing the same old bits on the same old sitcoms, and shit like this is fucking refreshing.
[sarcasm]Yes, I think I heard about the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, once or twice, maybe.[/sarcasm] And I know how the term was used in the title: “big, fat” = “extreme”. The point is, the Fox show didn’t just cast a guy who’s “fat” in the sense of being extreme; they cast someone who’s “fat” in the sense of overweight. It’s not the title that offends me, but the casting.
As I said in the OP, I don’t have a problem with the concept. I don’t have a problem with the show itself. I don’t even have a problem with the title. I just have a problem with the producers’ choice to cast someone who’s overweight, as if that in itself is unacceptable behavior.
If you had watched the show, you’d see how in Randi’s snobby upper class white bred family’s eyes, the fat is in and of itself, obnoxious. Especially when he does “the moose”.
The whole evening was side-splitting. The Sylvia Plath gothic sister is just the perfect touch to go with the alcoholic father and the mother with the vaginal obsession.
The show wouldn’t work if he was in awesome shape because Randi “would never date anyone that looked like that!” Seriously, watch the show and give it a chance. It is hilarious.
I have a hypothetical question for the board: Let’s just suppose, for a moment, that your knockout babe of a daughter was suddenly engaged to a big fat obnoxious loser guy. A film crew shows up to film the entire thing, presumably for TV. These people are from the FOX network.*
Would you maybe possibly be a slight bit suspicious that this whole thing was a setup? With FOX’s* past reputation of bringing us so-called “reality TV”, would there be an alarm going off in your head that you, yourself, are being whooshed? You know, what with the camera in your face and the FOX van* in your driveway? If not, would you graciously accept the honorific of “dumbass”?
I don’t know. The cover story seems pretty strong. As far as the family knows, they met while filming another, as of yet unreleased reality show, and now the aftermath is being filmed for a spinoff/epilogue for teh first show. Makes sense to me. Didn’t the couple from “the Bachelor” get married on TV?
That just elevates them from “utter dumbasses” to “a bit credulous”, however.
The fat part was bugging me a little, too. But last night was kind of a relief because at first, when Steve was being charming and sweet, the family seems to have overlooked his weight pretty readily. It wasn’t until he started behaving horribly that they mentioned his weight at all.
I think the most impressive thing about this was the casting/picking of Randi and her uptight family. They completely nailed exactly the sort of people who were going to completely lose it over a guy who is, in the end, simply crude and clumsy, hardly the worst things in world.
I know one thing for sure, I’d rather hang out with the Steve and his family than Randi and her family. Every member of that family needs a “Stickectomy” STAT! Those sticks are embedded DEEP!
It’ll be funny if their self righteousness and coservatism bites them on the ass and Randi loses the million.
The title probably came naturally…the producer was probably pitching a description of the show- " force some beautiful, all american, prom queen to marry some big, fat, obnoxious guy for a million doallars…" and the rest is history.
Well, I don’t watch the show, and it does bother me. From the impressions I’ve gathered from Fox’s promo spots, it seems like a depressing show. Perhaps these impressions are wrong, but since they come mainly from Fox’s own advertising, it seems like they have some validity. The premise of the show is that some woman is trying to con her family into believing she’s marrying the Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, yes? And said BFOF is an actor doing his best to be Obnoxious, yes?
First of all, the whole concept demeans the concept of marriage. No more so than “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire,” or “Who Wants to Marry My Dad,” but I was uncomfortable with those, too. I’m not exactly a believer in the Sanctity of Holy Matrimony trumping everything else, but Christ! a little respect for the institution of marriage would be nice. Instead we’re shown how hollow marriage and weddings can be. How depressing.
Mostly, though, I object to taking advantage of people’s honest struggle with a difficult situation. I just imagine how I would feel if one of my friends, or my brother (or worse, my daughter, If I had one), was planning to marry someone who was basically an annoying, obnoxious jerk. Do I grin and bear it? Do I say something to my friend? Do I try to talk to the fiance? Do I just remain polite at all costs? Do I just refuse to participate in the wedding? How do I plan on dealing with this person in the future? And then I find out the whole wedding is just one big joke, and the guy isn’t even a real jerk, he’s just pretending to be one solely to irritate me. And display my emotions and reactions to this dilemma on national TV. In the worst possible light, no doubt. That’s really depressing.
I think you’re reading too much into the title. The guy in question IS big (gotta be like 6’3" or so), fat (definitely some extra weight) and obnoxious (even though he’s acting). The title does not imply that fat == obnoxious, which if I understand correctly is what bothers you.
As a side note. I also think the show is hilarious as well. They do a good job of not being confrontational about it, so it’s a lot of fun to see the reactions to his and his family’s behavior. Dad’s face was priceless when Steve was telling him that he hasn’t slept with Randi yet.
