I made a promise to myself, on this very website, that I wouldn’t watch Insatiable.

Netflix’s new miniseries, starring slim actress Debbie Ryan and a squidgy, funny-har-har fatsuit, seemed like everything that I actively try to avoid on the Internet. Full of fatshaming tropes and stereotypes, powered by a plot that sees Ryan’s “Fatty Patty” lose weight and finally become the woman she has always dreamt of being, the show appeared to have no redeeming qualities.

Bolstered by the release of Insatiable’s trailer earlier this month and the backlash that ensued on social media, I wrote a story about how damaging the messaging of the series was and immediately relegated the show to the part of my brain where things I no longer engage with subside, right above Adam Sandler but below all the people who want to remake Star Wars: The Last Jedi without the female characters.

But then came the backlash to the backlash. Netflix’s VP of original content Cindy Holland resolutely stood by the show, urging people to watch a few episodes before they cast judgement.

This weekend, Insatiable’s creator Lauren Gussis gave an interview to The Hollywood Reporter where she stressed the good intentions of her series. Gussis herself struggled with body positivity and disordered eating as an adolescent. Everything in this show arose from her very personal, very deeply felt experiences, she said.

Netflix’s Insatiable isn’t as bad as you thought it would be. It’s worse