Netflix recently released a trailer for their new tv show called Insatiable. The show is about a teenage girl who gets bullied because she is not as skinny as her classmates. Over the summer break she gets her jaw wired shut, so when she comes back to school she is the new “hot girl.” Wanting her classmates to feel as badly as she did when they bullied her, she goes out for revenge. This show has caused a lot of controversy with many people saying it’s harmful. And since the show’s target audience is teenagers, I thought I’d share how we as Christians can deal with these issues.
The whole premise of the show is that the main character, Patty, has no worth until she becomes skinny. First and foremost, we are God’s creation. He put you in the body that you are in for a reason, and He does not create ugliness. It is totally fine to want to eat healthier or exercise more, but skinny does not equal healthy. Healthy looks different for each person because there are so many different body types. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 16:7, “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on his height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart’.”
Society has made everything about how our bodies. If you don’t look a certain way then you should feel ashamed of yourself. And that is absolutely ridiculous. God cares so much about your soul. He cares about how you are living and if you are striving to follow Him. Everything else fades away. Therefore, you should be most concerned with living for God not for fitting into society.
Patty has her jaw wired shut in the show. This gives the idea that starving yourself is okay as long as you lose weight. Coming from personal experience, it does not work. You will lose weight, but you will become obsessed with what you eat or what you don’t. It is not healthy. God says our bodies are a temple. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Your body, that God gave you, needs food. Choose healthy options, but do not deprive your body. Also, stop and think about what this verse says. You were bought with a price. Jesus paid the price by dying on the cross, which is extremely painful. So the next time you are thinking terrible thoughts about your body, remember that Jesus loves you so much that He suffered up on the cross for you.
When Patty is finally accepted by the cool kids, (which is a whole other issue) she decides to get revenge. Revenge is a noun or adjective which means to inflict pain or retaliation for real or perceived wrong doings. Revenge is personal and based on what someone did to you. God does not ever say he will get revenge on anyone. He uses the word avenge or vengeance. Avenge is a verb and it means to inflict punishment as an act of retributive justice. God will avenge and vengeance (which is the noun version of avenge), because He is just and he is the only one who can serve justice. “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” (Romans 12:19). We are humans, we’re not better than anyone else. Revenge is not an option. Forgiveness is. When people wrong us, revenge will only keep our pain fresh in our mind. When we forgive and start to let God help us move on, we honor Him, and stay off the path of bitterness.
Insatiable is not a good show, but it is a good conversation starter between Christians. I hope we as teenagers can continue sharing our identity in Christ with people who aren’t children of God. As you go through life this week, remember you are beautifully and wonderfully made, your body is a temple, and revenge is never an option.
