Do Something: Keep body diversity on TV, and support a second season of Huge.

Tonight the season finale of Huge will be aired. Are you bummed about that? All of my protestations about returning to non-recap-centric blogging aside, I am going to miss this show enormously (ha) when it’s done. This summer, for the first time ever, we’ve seen the evolution of a series that openly criticizes mainstream body culture, that makes the case for size diversity, and that acknowledges that fat kids laugh, and fight, and have crushes, and love themselves and hate themselves and struggle with figuring out who they are, just like kids of any shape or size. This is a series that normalizes difference, that embraces the outsider-ness we all feel, sometimes. And it has also introduced us to an incredible cast of kids who, in defiance of Hollywood standards, have demonstrated that a young actor can succeed at bringing us a character and a story without relying on ridiculous eyebrows, epic amounts of mouth-breathing, and some truly lucky genetics (see The Secret Life of the American Teenager for an illustration).

I want this show to go on. I want these characters’ stories to continue, and I want the producers and the cast and the crew to keep making them. I want to see a second season. But this is not a foregone conclusion. Huge needs our support for this to happen: ABC Family needs to hear from y’all that you want more.

Send an email through the ABC Family feedback form letting them know how much you dig the show, and that you want a second season.

Hit ABC Family with your Twitter-based demands for more Huge at @ABCFHuge and at @ABCFamily. Or give them a shout on the Huge Facebook page.

Send a dump truck of mini-muffins to ABC Family’s physical address at:
ABC Family
500 South Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521-6078

And it may be obvious, but: watch the show via a legit source. Full episodes are available on Hulu and on ABCFamily.com. If you watch it anywhere else, your ratings don’t count. (EDIT: Unless you’re international, in which case your ratings don’t count no matter what, so watch however you like.)

I’ve noted before that when I was a teenager, the show that had the most profound effect on me was My So-Called Life. This show made me feel less alone, even occasionally understood. It helped me find the courage and conviction to stop trying to force myself to fit in, and told me it was okay to stand out — it was okay to be myself, even if it got me in trouble, even if it made people stare, even if I was not perfect, not beautiful, not always smart, not always good. Without My So-Called Life, I may still have become the noisy upstart I am today, but I’ve little doubt it would have taken me far longer, and I might not be quite so brazen, without that early influence of teen-culture-busting. Huge is operating in much the same way for those kids — and adults — who don’t see themselves represented in the mainstream. With Huge, fat kids and weird kids and nerdy kids and maybe-queer kids and kids who just aren’t sure what they want to be yet all have a story to turn to. This is important. My So-Called Life had one season before it was cancelled; I think we can do better with Huge. But first they need to know you want more.

Make some fucking noise. Don’t let this end too soon.

A million thanks, my loves. For reading, for participating, and for being yourselves.

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