I was an overweight girl. I still am. I’m not ashamed to say it, but others seem to be ashamed to hear it. Seeing a woman unashamedly going after her dream on one of the most popular shows on TV is my dream. Kate Pearson, played by Chrissy Metz, on NBC’s “This is Us” is making that dream come true.
Those scenes, when Kate sits and waits for her singing audition and looks around only to find size zero, model-looking singers surrounding her have happened to me. When she finally feels loved and yet is still afraid to show her body to her boyfriend; that’s a real fear. Getting that nasty note from someone she thought was a friend at the pool that summer, that one hits home too. Kate is beautiful and honest about her fears, her struggles and successes.
Throughout the show so far, tiny scenes pop up that strike a chord in my personal story. Noticing the size on your mom’s shirt labeled “small” while your own tag says “large.” Watching other girls swimming without a care. Being told, unassumingly, to stop eating. Watching other people find love and not knowing if it’s your weight or something else preventing you from finding yours. It’s all there.
In one of the first scenes in the first episode of the first season, Kate is sitting on the floor, after tripping off her scale, with a sprained ankle iced by a quart of ice cream. Exaggerated? Maybe. Blunt? Definitely. She proceeds to tell her brother, “I’m gonna lose the damn weight.” An honest way to introduce a character – her vulnerabilities exposed at first glance. You’d think the show would continue with her losing the weight and living skinnily-ever-after with the love of her life, Toby, by her side. Not so fast, Hollywood. Kate Pearson is proof to those who recognize themselves in her that happy does not necessarily mean skinny.
Kate Pearson goes beyond the silver screen, and exists in Chrissy Metz. She struts red carpets, jokes on late night talk shows and lives her best life, all while knowing people are thinking about her weight. She acknowledges it, tells people to get over it and moves on. She is the confident, beautiful, badass woman who I’ve been looking for. She inspires those of us who have spent too many moments questioning ourselves to get up off the floor, stop icing our wounds and believe in ourselves.