The toxic environment of Ally McBeal

[TMC]

https://www.reddit.com/r/allymcbeal/...f_ally_mcbeal/

As a teen I remember all the girls at school dieting to be as thin as Ally. A close friend worried she was fat at 96 lbs and 5'5". She ran 10 miles a day, did hundreds of situps and lived on diet Pepsi and oranges. She fainted at school one day, hit her nose and there was blood everywhere. She is still painfully thin, size 00 slim jeans and not even a 100 lbs all these years later. Even after three pregnancies. I saw her after she gave birth to twins (born premature) and she was still in her size 00 jeans three days after giving birth. She got breast implants because she was embarrassed about being an A cup. Of course Ally McBeal didn't cause that but it contributed greatly to diet culture and reinforced an unhealthy and unsustainable standard of beauty.

25 years later many of the women actors in Ally McBeal including Calista Flockhart have admitted they developed eating disorders or had existing disorders worsen on the set. But at the time everyone denied issues and said they were naturally that thin. Which puts extra pressure on people to live up to an unrealistic standard. Like if they're not that thin they are being lazy gluttons.

The women on Ally McBeal raced each other about who could lose more weight. They had treadmills at home and in their dressing rooms, running in between takes. They were eating as little as 150 calories a day, when they did eat. When there were underwear scenes they would fast for a week and use laxatives.

Lisa Nicole Carson (Renee) had a psychotic break from the pressure. Courtney Thorne-Smith had to leave because her eating disorder was out of control and she couldn't bear for young girls to try to emulate her. Portia de Rossi wasted away to 82 lbs and went into organ failure.

In season 4, they touched on Ally's appearance and how she was hired for her looks and not skill. But they mentioned it only in passing. They didn't confront it.

Watching it again I'm saddened how the series has not aged well especially compared to David E. Kelley's other series, Picket Fences. Picket Fences is damn near "woke" compared to Ally McBeal. McBeal touches on LGBT issues like Picket Fences did, but instead promotes homophobia and transphobia instead of exploring them.

Now I'm rewatching it I'm a bit more critical and not liking Ally at all. She is a shallow, raging bitch. Yes she has funny quirks but she is rude to anyone "lesser." She is rude to Elaine, she is rude to a barista who turns out to be a judge. She loses her composure in court and is very unprofessional. She thinks it's fine to throw things and physically assault strangers on the street and coworkers. But it's supposed to be cute because she's a tiny woman.

The series is still enjoyable and there are some amazing performances from Lucy Liu, Peter MacNicol, and Greg Germann. That's why I will tough it out and finish rewatching the series.