Journal Entries for Week 39

Interesting to see my Times colleague Tara Parker-Pope write about "Drop Dead Diva" in a recent "Well" column, linked here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/a-diva-offers-lessons-on-weight....

I've been watching the show since my colleague and dear friend Alessandra Stanley, the paper's terrific television critic, singled it out for praise upon its debut this year. And I've been marveling at what an insightful, blunt investigation into being overweight it is.

A recent episode about plus-size dresses, or rather their scarcity in certain shops, dared to show a coworker's clear contempt for the main (fat) character's to want a dress in a larger size rather than starving herself into the lower size already available.

Anyway, this show raises interesting questions in a way that's not pure spectacle, and that's not at all like "The Biggest Loser" and its spawn.