TMC
08-03-2022, 08:15 PM
https://www.looper.com/951358/cringeworthy-90s-tv-moments-that-were-also-awkward-at-the-time/
https://www.looper.com/img/gallery/cringeworthy-90s-tv-moments-that-were-also-awkward-at-the-time/full-house-glosses-over-eating-disorders-1659015563.webp
Sitcoms tend to broach a topic for one episode and then leave it be, never to be spoken of on-air again. When 30-minute shows attempt to address mental illness, it's often done hastily — as no condition can be properly tended to in such a short time slot. "Full House" tried to give depth to their "one big, happy family" mantra in Season 4, when eldest child D.J. develops an eating disorder (https://therealfullhousereviewed.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/season-4-episode-8-shape-up/). In the previous season, middle child Stephanie developed PTSD after an earthquake and was "cured" within minutes of speaking to a child psychologist. The case of D.J.'s condition is approached similarly, stigmatizing serious conditions with harmful stereotypes (https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/emotional-health/what-tv-gets-wrong-about-mental-illness) of people being overly dramatic, uninterested in getting help and immediately curable.
D.J.'s anxious about wearing a bathing suit around her friends on Kimmy's birthday and elects to starve herself before the party. The episode does handle anorexia gently and empathetically — no character shames D.J. for her actions and they're all genuinely concerned for her — but the show's open-and-shut timeline leaves very little for viewers who've been working through the disorder for months or years in real life. D.J.'s anorexia onscreen, which boils to the point of her passing out, is hard to watch — especially since actor Candace Cameron Bure later revealed she developed an eating disorder (https://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/a58031/candace-cameron-bure-eating-disorder-awareness/) after the show ended — but the "inspirational lecture from dad" bit at the end of the episode undercuts the progress that people with eating disorders are continuously making.
https://www.looper.com/img/gallery/cringeworthy-90s-tv-moments-that-were-also-awkward-at-the-time/full-house-glosses-over-eating-disorders-1659015563.webp
Sitcoms tend to broach a topic for one episode and then leave it be, never to be spoken of on-air again. When 30-minute shows attempt to address mental illness, it's often done hastily — as no condition can be properly tended to in such a short time slot. "Full House" tried to give depth to their "one big, happy family" mantra in Season 4, when eldest child D.J. develops an eating disorder (https://therealfullhousereviewed.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/season-4-episode-8-shape-up/). In the previous season, middle child Stephanie developed PTSD after an earthquake and was "cured" within minutes of speaking to a child psychologist. The case of D.J.'s condition is approached similarly, stigmatizing serious conditions with harmful stereotypes (https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/emotional-health/what-tv-gets-wrong-about-mental-illness) of people being overly dramatic, uninterested in getting help and immediately curable.
D.J.'s anxious about wearing a bathing suit around her friends on Kimmy's birthday and elects to starve herself before the party. The episode does handle anorexia gently and empathetically — no character shames D.J. for her actions and they're all genuinely concerned for her — but the show's open-and-shut timeline leaves very little for viewers who've been working through the disorder for months or years in real life. D.J.'s anorexia onscreen, which boils to the point of her passing out, is hard to watch — especially since actor Candace Cameron Bure later revealed she developed an eating disorder (https://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/a58031/candace-cameron-bure-eating-disorder-awareness/) after the show ended — but the "inspirational lecture from dad" bit at the end of the episode undercuts the progress that people with eating disorders are continuously making.