Louis C.K. and Sarah Baker Tackle the 'Fat Girl' Taboo

Comedian Louis C.K. has built his career out of pushing the envelope, but it was Monday’s episode of his FX series “Louie” that really got people talking: Sarah Baker, who guest-starred as C.K.’s love interest, gave a memorable speech about life as a “fat girl” that’s being called both amazing and controversial.

"Louie," written, directed, and starring C.K., centers on a semifictional character named, yes, Louie, a standup comedian and single father of two. During Monday’s episode, titled “So Did the Fat Lady,” actress Sarah Baker ("The Campaign," "Sweet Home Alabama") played a funny, sharp, no-b.s. waitress named Vanessa who asks Louis out on a date. The pair seem like a perfect match, except for one thing — Baker is overweight. But, she does have hockey tickets so Louis accepts and during their date, Vanessa shares what it’s like to be a self-described fat girl on the dating scene.

Vanessa begins by saying, “Try dating in New York in your early 30s as a fat girl.” When Louie interjects with, “You’re not fat,” she calls him out for lying. “You know what the meanest thing you can say to a fat girl? ‘You’re not fat.’ And the worst part is, I’m not even supposed to do this.”

“Do what?” Louie asks nervously.

“Tell anyone how bad it sucks because it’s too much for people,” she says. “I mean, you? You can talk into the microphone and say you can’t get a date, you’re overweight. And it’s adorable. But if I say it, they call the suicide hotline on me. I mean, can I just say it? I’m fat. It sucks to be a fat girl. Can people just let me say it? It sucks. It really sucks. And I’m going to go ahead and say it. It’s your fault. Look — I really like you. You’re truly a good guy, I think — so, sorry. I’m picking you. On behalf of all the fat girls, I’m making you represent all the guys. Why do you hate us so much? What is it about the basics of human happiness — you know, feeling attractive, feeling loved, having guys chase after us — that’s just not in the cards for us? Nope, not for us. How is that fair? And why am I supposed to just accept it?”

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Louie says, "You know, Vanessa, you’re a very really beautiful…" and she interrupts, “Come on. If I was a 'very really beautiful' then you would have said yes when I asked you out. I mean, come on, Louie, be honest here. You know what’s funny? I flirt with guys all the time. And I mean, the great looking ones, like the really high caliber studs? They flirt right back. No problem. Because they know their status will never be questioned. But guys like you never flirt with me because you get scared that maybe you should be with a girl like me. And why not?!… I don’t even need a boyfriend or a husband. All I want is to hold hands with a nice guy, and walk and talk.”

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The scene touched upon three taboos: First, it takes a real look at what being an overweight woman feels like. Second, it addresses a common double standard we see in pop culture, overweight men not wanting to be in relationships with overweight women, a phenomenon that C.K.'s character is guilty of — he has dated characters played by thin and gorgeous actresses such as Parker Posey. And finally, Baker's character actually calls out a guy for this double standard.

In a single, sweeping moment of television," Eric Deggans noted on NPR's "All Things Considered" on Tuesday, "he's made us all consider the hypocrisy of how we laugh at fat men and shun overweight women, sparing no one."

That’s a good thing, says Jean Fain, MSW, a Harvard University-affiliated psychotherapist and author of "The Self-Compassion Diet." "Rejecting someone based on their body type has become acceptable, but discussing the fact that we do this is somehow taboo,” Fain tells Yahoo Shine. “The issue remains because unlike race and gender, for which we have antidiscrimination polices in place, we can't face it.”

And replacing the word “fat” with the sensitive “curvy” and “plus-size” only dances around the issue. “Fat is a neutral word, but when we avoid saying it, it becomes something ugly,” says Fain. “We all know what people mean when they say ‘curvy.’”

However, as brilliant as the episode was, it's merely a start of the conversation, one many still consider "uncomfortable."

Others on Twitter thanked C.K. for tackling the topic.

As Willa Paskin at Slate puts it, "Vanessa’s teachable moment, and the episode more largely, is as scathing to Louie as possible. But it’s also condescending to Vanessa: I mean, if all Vanessa wanted in life was to hold hands with a nice guy, a girl as cool as she is could do just that. Wonder if we’ll ever see a fat girl on TV who demands more."

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