'Revenge Body with Khloe Kardashian' season 3 returns with the same four major flaws from earlier seasons
Khloe Kardashian received much grief over her weight for the longest time. Following her split with her then-husband, Lamar Odom, she started exercising as a way to keep her sanity. There are several studies that have proven that exercise helps in releasing endorphins that make you feel more positive. Khloe took this experience and turned it into her hit reality show, ‘Revenge Body with Khloe Kardashian’.
In the series, each week we are introduced to a participant who has been wronged in the past due to their weight, or their excess weight is a result of some trauma from the past. The participants then get to reinvent themselves from the “inside out” with the help of Khloe and her crew of celebrity trainers, nutritionists, and stylists. This all leads up to the final segment of the show, called the reveal, where the participant gets the “revenge” on the person who has wronged them by showing off their new skinny, glamorous body.
The show’s premise has drawn criticism in the past. Critics have slammed Khloe for posting some terribly self-deprecating photos to promote the show and accused the show of being exploitative of the participants’ lifestyle and experiences.
Despite these criticisms, the show managed to return for the third season. The pilot episode of the third season premiered on July 7. It saddens us to report that the show still has the same flaws in its premise and executions that were present in the earlier seasons.
Here are the top four flaws, which KoKo seriously needs to consider and hopefully we don’t have to see these in upcoming seasons.
The term ‘Revenge Body’
When the show premiered two seasons ago, Koko met with some serious backlash from fans, criticizing her choice of title for the show. The term revenge body basically means that after someone hurts you or offends you, you put all your energy into making some changes to your body, in order to prove to the person who wronged you that they made a grave error by crossing you off. It is mostly used in the context of painful breakups, post which one of the parties change their physical appearance to make their ex jealous. The motive of revenge to lose weight isn’t the best or healthiest. In the first episode of the third season, Deeran, a closeted bisexual is on the show to show his father that he is man enough. While his motive, to improve relations and connect with his father is laudable, the approach of altering his body might not be the best choice, given that his father walks out on him during his emotional speech in the final reveal.
Too much emphasis on weight loss, little consideration towards health
The participants are given 12 weeks with a celebrity trainer to lose weight. In these 12 weeks, they must lose their excess weight through exercise and diet. This puts the participant at the risk of over-exercising. Exercise, when done in moderation, does wonders, but when a person stretches it too far, it will adversely affect you leading to "overtraining syndrome" which manifests in the form of fatigue, depression, anxiety, and guilt over not exercising enough. In Deeran’s episode, we could see some signs of it when he is in his car, sharing that it is too much for him, and he is trying his best not too crack.
Participants do not get the help they actually need
‘Revenge Body’ works on the principle that a good body fixes everything. However, some participants need a lot more than just a fitness trainer, nutritionist, and stylist. They need a therapist who can help them cope with their problems and address the root cause of weight gain. Just a short 12-weeks stint with personal trainers and nutritionists might fix the problem for the time being, but there is a high chance that after the show, the participant might go back to their previous destructive behaviors.
Tough love might not work for everybody
In ‘Revenge Body’ we often see the trainers pushing the participants to their extreme limits which often leads to a meltdown, while from TRP rating point of view it might be a great thing, but for the participant, it might just make things worse. The trainers need to be a lot more considerate and understanding. They also need to help the participants set realistic weight-loss goals so that the participants feel motivated to work out.
Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian airs Sundays at 9 pm on E!
