Netflix Chose To “Poke The Bear” With ‘Insatiable’

After facing weeks of backlash, teen dramedy Insatiable finally hit Netflix and the reviews are… not positive. The general consensus seems to be that Insatiable has way bigger problems than its fat-shaming trailer, the release of which prompted fans to start a petition calling for the show’s cancellation. Despite the widespread criticism, Insatiable creator Lauren Gussis is standing by the series, and she says that Netflix is, too.

At last night’s Hollywood premiere, Gussis told Variety that both she and Netflix view Insatiable as entirely unproblematic. “I talked to Netflix every single day and they never brought it up,” Gussis said about the petition to cancel the series before its premiere. “They were the most supportive and loving. The entire process they were very artist driven and understanding.” There are probably hundreds of people involved in the series at Netflix and not a single one voiced concern about the show’s subject material? And furthermore, not a single person said, “Hey, maybe we shouldn’t open the series with a false sexual abuse claim or embrace racist stereotypes?” In the age of #MeToo, something about that just doesn’t compute.

Instead, Netflix seems to be operating under the “All publicity is good publicity” maxim. “They knew it was a satire and we discussed the issues going into it so that when the issues came up, we could poke the bear so people could talk about the them,” Gussis told Variety. “It’s satire” has been the Insatiable party line in the weeks since the backlash started, but critics seem to agree that the show’s lazy attempt at humor doesn’t merit inclusion in the genre. As NPR’s Linda Holmes wrote, “Insatiable is satire in the same way someone who screams profanities out a car window is a spoken-word poet.”

Star Debby Ryan insists that Insatiable “comes from a place of compassion,” and we’re sure that’s true. But as the show started to take shape and its real flaws began to appear, why did no one at Netflix speak up? Is stirring up controversy — which Gussis freely admits was Netflix’s goal — really more important than knowingly releasing a sub-par series? Apparently, the answer is yes.

Stream Insatiable on Netflix