I’m not one to let go of a grudge easily. But I also don’t put any effort into plotting revenge. I’m more of a what-goes-around-comes-around type of person. Khloé Kardashian is coming out with another reality show on January 12th called Revenge Body. It’s like The Biggest Loser meets How Do I Look, with the theme: “Let’s make our haters our biggest motivators.” And while that sounds good on the outside, it’s seriously problematic.
The Show
The trailer for Khloé’s new show begins with her telling the tale of how she was overweight as a child. She says that whenever she was sad or stressed, she would eat. So Khloé learned to put that energy into something positive and healthy for herself, like working out. Revenge Body is a show that gathers 16 participants, who are overweight and unhappy about something in their life, and transform them into new, confident beings. But there’s something about the word ‘revenge’, that makes this seem like this transformation is not for themselves, but for someone else.
I get it. If I’m going through a stressful time in my life or someone hurts me, I feel defeated. And when I feel this way, it makes me want to change something about myself. Yet I only go so far as to get a haircut, because somehow chopping off my hair is like chopping off all of the negative things in my life. But the feeling is only an instant gratification. I can feel like a new person in that moment, but after a few days, whatever I was trying to chop out of my life catches up with me.
The show Revenge Body uses the participants’ defeated moments as motivation to drastically change their looks. The trailer highlights the motivation of some of the participants, with some saying that their revenge body is for their ex-fiancé, their mom, or their friends. But is revenge really the best motivation for this weightless journey?
Why It’s Problematic
Let’s get one thing straight: We should never change our bodies for someone else. What do they have to value in your transformation? It should be 100% about you. Revenge Body focuses on the motivation behind the transformation. Whereas the motivation in other weight loss shows, like The Biggest Loser, is very future-focused. For example, a participant on The Biggest Loser might want to lose weight to live a longer life with their family.
On top of the weight loss journey, participants are getting a full on make-over. They even meet with a plastic surgeon who, in the trailer, says, “Pretty doesn’t come easy.” Who made him the judge of what defines beauty?
Revenge Body is problematic because it is giving power to people who have wrong the participants in the past. It becomes more about “the haters” rather than the participant. The participants should be wanting to do this for themselves — they shouldn’t have to prove anything to anybody.
Like I said before, these changes are an instant gratification. Once they’re transformed, they’ll feel great for a few days, but it won’t last. Physical changes are totally different than emotional changes. It takes time to get over someone, to forgive someone, or to move on. I think this show only offers a distraction to the lives of the participants. And when they get back to reality (irony of a reality show), they’ll have to deal with the emotional side of things on their own.