40_______________Popular Culture Review_________________
threaten to derail their efforts. Talk of favorite foods also illustrates the badness
of food and the will and discipline the women need in order to achieve their
target weight.
Because food plays a prominent role in the wedding and its requisite
reception and pre-wedding day festivities, Buff Brides emphasizes it through the
use of close-up shots. The use of food to demarcate the “good” buff bride from
the “bad” buff bride is illustrated in the additional images of food actually being
eaten. The weakness for food is prominent in Nadege’s storyline, for example.
Her bridal shower footage features close-ups of the luncheon buffet comprised
of evil carbohydrates disguised as delicious-looking treats: macaroni and cheese,
rice with lima beans (a Haitian dish), vegetable lasagna, and potato salad. These
images create an impression that brides—and women in general—who actually
put food into their mouths on camera cannot possibly attain their weight loss
goals. The idea of “being bad” becomes more so when the viewer witnesses
transgressions: Nadege will surely pay for having a good time at her own bridal
shower.
The Bridal Cam becomes the site for brides to describe in detail the
forbidden foods which they have allowed themselves to eat; these sins often are
accompanied by admissions of guilt. For example, Linxiu, who enjoys eating,
describes the “toasted almond souffle” with heavy cream she had for dessert at a
French restaurant. And after a day of indulging in the various tempting foods in
her refrigerator in the absence of her fiance’s watchful eye, she tells the viewer
via the Bridal Cam: “I gave myself a treat. I didn’t work out today, either. . . I
have a guilty conscience.” The guilt associated with the very act of eating tells
viewers that to eat is to be guilty—and that no respectable bride would indulge
before her wedding.
Related to the portrayal of food as enemy, the denial of food also
appears in several brides’ storylines. The juxtaposition of the buff bride on her
quest and the abundance of food offered at pre-wedding events further
emphasizes that only through denial will the bride achieve her ideal image.
Greta, whose history of unhealthy dieting and anorexia serves as a concern for
her and her family, demonstrates an iron will during pre-wedding festivities and
on the job. At a company event she oversees, she waves off a tray of food being
served by the caterer, saying, “Not for me, not for Greta.” Other brides show
similar discipline. For example, at Colleen’s surprise bridal shower luncheon at
a large restaurant, a big cake is shown, but she does not partake. In fact, one of
her bridal shower presents is a scale.
This obsession with food, or rather, the denial of food, reinforces the
notion that women should not eat—at least in front of others.3 Especially
noteworthy here is how much emphasis this program places on the evilness of
food. Rather than a means of sustaining the human body and a source of
pleasure, food is to be denied and rejected. Indulgence is not allowed, especially
for brides who want to look good on their wedding day, as opposed to enjoying
their wedding—an event at which food plays a prominent role. When combined