When it comes to navigating new social circumstances, from the school lunchroom to professional settings, I’ve found that finding individuals who look like me: fellow obese ladies is a safe bet. Women of size frequently have an unspoken connection. Even on our first meeting, we had easy chuckles. We can recognize certain shared experiences of marginalization even if we don’t know each other’s stories, histories, or even names, and even if we don’t talk. Two overweight strangers may look at each other and communicate telepathically, “You get it?”
What Is the Backstory?
LIZZO’S WATCH OUT FOR THE BIG GRRRLS is a reality show in which Lizzo, a singer, rapper, composer, and flutist, hunts for dancers for her 2022 tour. Thirteen ladies from around the country have traveled to Los Angeles in the hopes of impressing the music legend enough to become one of her Big Grrrl tour dancers. Following a series of tryouts, ten ladies are chosen to live in the Big Grrrl house. However, no one is promised a spot on stage, and they will have to demonstrate that they have the movements and confidence to get there.
Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, Lizzo’s eight-part dancing competition launching on Amazon capitalizes on this natural friendship amongst large women. Happiness is contagious. The reality series is executive produced and hosted by Lizzo, a superstar pop singer/fashion icon/occasional flutist. It follows 13 plus-size women competing to become Lizzo’s backup dancers at the 2021 Bonnaroo music festival, and then, hopefully, her sacred, anointed backup dancers on her upcoming tour. They strive to be the title’s archetypal Big Grrrls.
What Parents Should Know
Parents should be aware that Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls is a reality show that follows multi-platinum singer Lizzo as she works with dancers vying to join her 2022 tour. The whole series conveys powerful and obvious body-positive messages, ranging from recognizing the value of knowing who you are to being happy with – and confidence in – your body regardless of size. It also explores the significance of varied female representation in the entertainment business. There’s a lot of twerking, references to being sexual, skin-revealing attire, and in one episode, nudity is blurred. There’s also a lot of cussing and liquor is occasionally shown. It’s a Lizzo advertising vehicle, but the concert is powerful even if you’re not a fan of her.
Is It of any use?
The body-positive series is less about competition and more about empowering women by teaching them how to be at ease in their flesh. Lizzo, a powerful and empowered full-figured music star, utilizes the series to consistently underline her signature messages of understanding who you are, being happy in your skin regardless of size, and having the self-confidence to exhibit yourself to the world. Many of the difficulties she assigns to the dancers are intended to assist them in learning these skills, and the feedback they receive is both critical and pleasant. Watching them dance, which spans from high-energy displays to more poetic storytelling, is part of the fun. Granted, the language becomes harsh at times, but most of it is presented in an uplifting manner as well. Overall, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls is a performance full of valuable lessons for individuals from all walks of life.
Talk to Your Children About…
Families may discuss how we might support positive body image in children. How does media influence how children see and feel about their bodies? What can we do to assist?
What are the teachings in Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls about how we should feel about ourselves and our bodies? How important is it to see individuals who look like you in the media?
Lizzo was born to host a reality show. The show’s narrative is centered on extreme self-love but also radical self-exertion, according to the ultra-confident performer, whose lauded 2019 album Cuz I Affection You yielded mega-charting songs like “Juice” and a renewed love for 2017 single “Truth Hurts.” She expects her dancers, regardless of size, to be able to move with crisp lines, rapidly learn new choreography, and build endurance for the 90-minute Bonnaroo act.
Lizzo, 33, was a preteen when reality TV first became popular in the early 2000s, and maybe two decades of attentive observation have given her the ability to casually assume a polished talking-head cadence. Or perhaps her vivacious, even insane character is inherently suited to the heightened essence of this genre. I’ve never heard the term “bitch” used so regularly and affectionately.
Repetitive self-help themes, on the other hand, might dull the senses. When I asked my husband, who had been quietly eavesdropping while I watched the show, what he thought it was about, he deadpanned, “Sounds like a lot of ladies going on their travels and finding their truths.” He is not mistaken. Lizzo’s emphasis on personal vulnerability, body positivity, and fat acceptance is both encouraging and grating. The empowerment discourse can be tedious, but the scenery and costumes, which are drenched in energizing neons, pastels, and iridescent, keep the excitement going.
Classically trained dancers, social media stars, former gymnasts, and passionate hobbyists are among the Big Grrrl aspirants, the majority of whom are Black women. The ladies vary in size, with their belly and thighs on full show, but none had the generally slim forms seen in dancers. I’m sure many people have never seen a plus-size lady move like this before. Not because they can’t, mind you, but because obese people are frequently humiliated into not expressing themselves publicly in this way. Though the close-up cinematography and quick-cut editing made it tough to take in the full splendor of their kinesthetics, I appreciated the eye-popping gyrations.
Each 50-minute episode focuses on a different aspect of self-expression, such as sexuality (which ends in a tasteful nude photo session) or unique talent (which culminates in a music video). Missy Elliott and SZA appear as special guests.
