"More To Love" a positive or plus-size fiasco?

As a former fatty, I decided to weigh in on the latest Fox reality show “More To Love” at 9 p.m. Tuesdays.

“More To Love” is a dating show a la “The Bachelor”-style except the bachelor, Luke Conley, a 26-year-old real estate salesman, is not only a chubby chaser, he’s plump himself. Hmm, so what’s the theory here? All fatties must fraternize with fatties? So skinnies should only socialize amongst themselves?

It’s no secret that we are a thin-centric society; at least that’s what the media makes us believe. However, that doesn’t make for exciting television. Frankly, the show is boring. All of these ladies are beautiful. The guy is handsome. They’re all dressed well even if a few of the dress styles, in my opinion, were over the top — literally. I held my breath as one girl hugged Luke. I was concerned that her G-Rated embrace would morph into a triple X moment when they parted.

Luke met a girl, who is a rocket scientist and made her feel self conscious about her smarts, but responded sweetly to a girl whose opening line was to promise that she would teach him how to milk a cow. That’s when I dozed off only to wake up when they announced that each girl would receive a diamond ring (instead of a rose) from Luke. Then they focused on the women and their desperation. Some said they never went on dates before; others said they never received a diamond from anyone and were never told they were beautiful. Why do people say things like this when they know millions (OK, in this case, thousands) will be watching?

When the ceremony of elimination began, all the girls were asked to hand over their rings. They would only get them back if Luke chose them to stay. I practically yelled at the television, “run, Forrest, run” to your nearest jewelry appraiser.” What was Mike Fleiss, the producer of this series and others like the “Bachelor,” thinking? The skinny girls don’t have to give back their roses on “The Bachelor”; they just don’t get one. Boy, talk about making a person feel low. That’s the only reason I would be happy to gain weight: if a giant 12-carat diamond on my finger made the scale go up. When they took it away, I figured the show was about to get interesting. I was sure that Luke, a former college football offensive lineman, would be tackled by 13 angry women. But no! They just handed back the rings hoping that he would pick them. I’m still scratching my head on that one.

One thing I can understand is living with a weight problem. Until a few years ago, I was always battling the bulge. Now, I’m finally what society would say is “average sized.” In the Jewish world, I’m way too thin, but that aside, I definitely understand how our society judges others. However, what I’m undecided about is if “More To Love” helps the situation or piles on the humiliation.

For example, when contestants (including the bachelor) are shown individually on screen, their age, name and weight is listed. If this show is about acceptance and loving the person regardless of what the scale says, then why is their weight listed? It’s not their identity.

By the way, it looks as if only Luke was truthful. He was listed at 6’3″ and 330 pounds. The woman were mostly 200 pounds. I know that the camera adds 10-15 pounds, but I’ve seen 200 pounds on a 5’5 inch woman and it doesn’t look like that. Apparently, this reality show doesn’t include the realization of weighing yourself and being truthful. It’s not that I blame the ladies for fudging it. Only my maker and I know how much I weigh. But this drives home the idea that Americans view a heavy man favorably. “He’s a big guy,” they say. Many men lie about their height and weight to make themselves seem bigger and taller because that makes them seem stronger and more intimidating. It’s the opposite for women. If you don’t believe me, wait until they tell you about their size 6 dress. Even if they can just fit their head in it, they’re a size 6 since it’s a part of their wardrobe in their closet.

During a television interview, the girls were asked how they would handle it if “the twist” on the show (you know there is always a twist on reality TV) was that skinny girls were also invited to compete for Luke’s attention. That idea went over like winning a lifetime supply of Slim Fast. Either way, the show needs to do something to beef up this snoozefest. Maybe our readers will have suggestions. Hey, if you loved the show, don’t be shy about telling me. This blog is for all singles, even the ones who think it was OK to give back the diamond ring.