Louie, the TV show written, starring, directed and edited by Louis CK, is consistently lauded as innovative, thoughtful, and funny. On Monday night, two new episodes aired, the first of which, called So Did the Fat Lady, has been exceedingly controversial inspiring rants and raves across the internet. Bloggers, TV reviewers, and people who comment on websites are arguing passionately about what exactly Mr. CK was trying to say, and I figured I may as well throw in my two cents.
The final eight minutes of the episode are the focus of the controversy, and consist of a monologue delivered by Sarah Baker, playing Vanessa, a variation on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope. She is charming, self deprecating, flirtatious, and very cute. She could clearly be good for Louie, make him laugh make him happy. But, she is also fat. Not morbidly obese, unable-to-walk-fat, but more fat than is allowed for a woman to be considered attractive on TV.
She asks Louie out a few times, and absorbs his rejection with deflective jokes and a friendly goodbye. There is no reason for Louie to reject this woman who was clearly written to be a perfect match for the protagonist. He is also fat. Again, not to fat to walk fat, but fat. His weight is often brought up in his stand up comedy and TV show, and the episode takes great pains to show that Louie is unhealthy.
After rejecting the cute-but-fat waitress initially, he stands with his brother on a busy corner in NYC, ogling the modelesque women that walk by, before going on a "bang-bang," an outing where the overweight men go to two different restaurants and consume two full meals, appetizers to dessert, back to back. It's filmed lovingly, the trays of food and forks flying, ending with the men deciding against going to the gym.
There are no social consequences to Louie's binge. He doesn't feel good at the end of it, both physically and mentally, but he doesn't feel bad enough to do anything different.
When Louie finally succumbs to the charms of the cute-fat waitress, their date goes perfectly, no awkwardness which is again, very pointed. All romantic encounters Louie has are fraught with awkward moments. He is convinced to wear a dress and laughed at, he is tickled to the point that he elbows a hot model he just slept with in the face, a woman is so horrified by their date that she flees via helicopter when he tries to kiss her, he winds up sleeping with a beautiful young woman who fetishizes his age and gets off on evidence that he is old. He is afraid of being alone but makes terrible choices when it comes to women.
As the two are walking in a park by a river, surrounded (deliberately I'm sure) by fit joggers, she makes a comment calling herself fat and he halfheartedly tries to argue.
"You're not--" he starts to say, before she interrupts.
She is fat, but she is not stupid. She knows what she looks like. She also knows what Louie looks like. And in a seven and a half minute monologue (filmed impressively as one take), Vanessa explains exactly why she thinks that Louie is full of shit.
Come on. If I was a “very really beautiful” then you would have said yes when I asked you out. I mean, come on, Louie, be honest here. You know what’s funny? I flirt with guys all the time. And I mean, the great looking ones, like the really high caliber studs? They flirt right back. No problem. Because they know their status will never be questioned. But guys like you never flirt with me because you get scared that maybe you should be with a girl like me. And why not?!
As the two are walking in a park by a river, surrounded (deliberately I'm sure) by fit joggers, she makes a comment calling herself fat and he halfheartedly tries to argue.
"You're not--" he starts to say, before she interrupts.
She is fat, but she is not stupid. She knows what she looks like. She also knows what Louie looks like. And in a seven and a half minute monologue (filmed impressively as one take), Vanessa explains exactly why she thinks that Louie is full of shit.
Come on. If I was a “very really beautiful” then you would have said yes when I asked you out. I mean, come on, Louie, be honest here. You know what’s funny? I flirt with guys all the time. And I mean, the great looking ones, like the really high caliber studs? They flirt right back. No problem. Because they know their status will never be questioned. But guys like you never flirt with me because you get scared that maybe you should be with a girl like me. And why not?!
Her point being that Louie hates himself so much that he can't accept his own weight and thereby can't accept hers. Its as thought dating a woman that is his mirror image would make him admit something about himself and he isn't brave enough.
As much as Mr. CK is clearly saying about the double standard of attractiveness in media for men and women, I think he is saying much more about the character Louie who has been dealing with self hatred since the pilot episode. And I do think this experience for that character made an impression, reaching him as much as a father of two girls who, between their genetics and the US's obesity epidemic, have a high chance of being fat girls themselves, as a man who is uncomfortable in his own skin.
So Did the Fat Lady's epic monologue reminded me of the scene from the second episode of Louie where the only gay comic at the poker table explains what the word "fagget" meant in the historical context, and what it meant to that character. Louie isn't a gay man or a fat lady, but he is trying to understand the perspectives of others, and I respect that.
As much as Mr. CK is clearly saying about the double standard of attractiveness in media for men and women, I think he is saying much more about the character Louie who has been dealing with self hatred since the pilot episode. And I do think this experience for that character made an impression, reaching him as much as a father of two girls who, between their genetics and the US's obesity epidemic, have a high chance of being fat girls themselves, as a man who is uncomfortable in his own skin.
So Did the Fat Lady's epic monologue reminded me of the scene from the second episode of Louie where the only gay comic at the poker table explains what the word "fagget" meant in the historical context, and what it meant to that character. Louie isn't a gay man or a fat lady, but he is trying to understand the perspectives of others, and I respect that.
You can find seasons one and two of Louie on Netflix, and season three airs at 10 pm on Monday nights on FX.
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