The family makes "One Big Happy Family" work

I was ambivalent about TLC's "One Big Happy Family." (TLC, 9 tonight).

The show about a morbidly obese family from North Carolina (Indian Trail) set out to show us what it's like to live as they do.

Interesting? Exploitive? Both?

It's certainly true that more of us are overweight and obese. It's true, too, that despite push back from fat acceptance activists, mocking fat people is generally acceptable. It's a condition where we can point the finger and feel superior.

You are out of control! You are a slob! You can lose weight if you wanted to!

Plus, the Coles are an African-American family, and although obesity isn't a racial condition, there are stereotypes connecting blackness and heftiness. Just read up on the talk surrounding the movie "Precious."

But something happened as TLC cameras followed the Coles family. Son Shayne, while fairly active as a swimmer, was confronted with diabetes 2. And so what began as a show about obesity became a show about weight loss.

That will make the show more palatable for viewers. Which, of course, plays into the idea that we can only watch fat people on TV if they are trying to not be fat.

Still what makes "One Big Happy Family" different is that the Coles are delightful. The parents are partners, the family is clearly close knit and loving. And they are, indeed, happy. Happy with themselves as is, and happy, with who they are striving to be.

Teen-age daughter Amber talks about living the role as the big girl and now having to figure out how to be this other person. Pretty insightful for a then-16 year old.

Because of the Coles, you do get to see humanity, and obese people are often dehumanized, and the prejudices of the outside world. But you also get to see the dangers and a family trying to overcome them.

That might be the best we can hope for.

Here's the family on the Today Show:

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