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‘Binge’ Shows Eating Disorders As They Are – Messy, Scary, and Even Funny
Eating disorders are a serious condition affection 30 million people across the United States in their lifetimes. They are the deadliest form of mental illness and can derail a person’s social and professional lives. So, you can understand why many might be hesitant to laugh at a show focused on bulimia and addiction.
But, the recent online release of the first episode of Binge is capable of making people laugh without minimizing or even romanticizing the harsh reality of living with an eating disorder.
Far too often, when TV is brave enough to tackle issues as serious as eating disorders they pull their punches in favor of laughs. You won’t find this in Binge, created by Angela Gulner and Yuri Baranovsky.
The series tells the story of Angela Mills, played Gulner, a young woman struggling to hold her life together while coping through binging and purging. It is also directly inspired by Gulner’s personal experiences with bulimia and being a self-described “mess.”
As you can expect when addressing the subject matter, the show is dark and even gross, but not without making you laugh unexpectedly – especially if you have first-hand experience with an eating disorder.
The response from people with eating disorders has been overwhelmingly positive, and just plain overwhelming, according to the Gulner and Baranovsky.
“The messages, emails and comments that we’ve been receiving from people who suffer from eating disorders have been so touching and overwhelming that I think I’m going to spend a week crying when it all sets in,” says Gulner.
The team behind the show has even collected their favorite messages and responses to the episode on their website. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the comments come from those who have lived with eating disorders and relate.
“I’ve struggled with anorexia since 2000…and it’s so refreshing to to see a show that, while darkly humorous, portrays eating disorders and mental illness in an unapologetically raw and un-sugarcoated way,” writes one fan.
While the team is looking for funding to continue producing more episodes, they say they already have plans for three seasons, which would utilize “the clinic to showcase the many different types of eating disorders out there (and the very different people who have the misfortune of having them (and how the treatment for them works,” Yuri explained.
You can watch the pilot episode of Binge below:
If you think you or someone you know may be living with an eating disorder, call us at (888) 298-4673. We can answer any questions you have and see if treatment is right for you.
