These days, it seems like creatives are facing increasing backlash when talking about weight, including that of fictional characters. Most recently, the popular children’s show Bluey has received the Taylor Swift treatment after parents on the show commented on their weight in front of their children.
In the series 3 episode titled “Exercise,” Bluey’s parents, Bandit and Chilli expressed their disappointment with their weight openly to their children. Critics argue that the episode was fatphobic and it offends those with eating disorders, making the episode feel uncomfortable because of the body shaming comments made in the show.
Oddly enough, the way the show portrayed weight is somewhat similar to the edited version of Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” music video. The pop star was called out when the scales in the video had the words “fat” in big bold letters, which prompted calls to have that scene removed. The scene was edited to only have Swift nod in disappointment.
In the Bluey episode, the scale results were not shown. However, people were upset that the parents talked negatively about their bodies in front of their children. According to the Australian morning news show Sunrise, there are now calls to change “the first 30 seconds” of the episode. However, a handful of people claimed that this small scene is something “not worth raging about” since neither of the parents said they’re going on a radical diet or point out problems with their bodies in every episode.
Australian conservative commentator Paul Murray called out those who were “offended” by the show’s recent episode and told them to “get stuffed” and claimed that the episode was funny after he saw comments of people wanting the “scales” removed from the episode.
While there is much praise for this children’s TV show, Bluey has faced multiple controversies. In 2020, it was reported by ABC Australia that two episodes from Bluey were edited due to “racial connotations” in the show’s dialogue. Not to mention, some episodes of Bluey were censored in the United States, with some of the dialogue receiving massive alterations. And in 2021, the episode “Pass the Parcel” divided parents and opened up a conversation about the generational divide.
At the moment, neither ABC Australia nor Ludo Studios have announced plans to edit the episode. “Exercise” is currently only available in Australia through the ABC iView app. The US release for the episode remains unknown.