Bulimia Comedy Conquers TV’s Last Taboo
By Sarah Breger February 20, 2015
Are eating disorders the last taboo on TV? Los Angeles-based filmmaker and comedian Jessie Kahnweiler thinks so and is setting out to change that with “The Skinny,” an episodic series based on her struggles with bulimia.
“Every movie I see depicting eating disorders makes me want to barf,” writes Kahnweiler on the project’s Kickstarter page. “Aside from the occasional Lifetime movie there are no television shows out there authentically exploring eating disorders in a way that is both raw and vulnerable.”
Kahnweiler is no stranger to using art to tackle difficult, personal topics. Her 2014 viral short “Meet My Rapist,” was a response to Kahnweiler’s own rape, which occurred when she was 20 years old and studying abroad in Vietnam.
“The Skinny,” is being produced by Jill Soloway’s Wifey.TV and follows a feminist comedian living in LA who struggles with bulimia. It also starts the great Ileana Douglas.
Watch a teaser here:
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
