Frenchie Davis Supporters Mistake Weightism for Racism

Frenchie Davis, a former "American Idol" ("The show everyone watches but me!"™) contestant who was kicked off the show in 2003 after nude photos that she had posed for five years prior surfaced on the internet, is confused as to why current contestant Antonella Barba has been allowed to stay on "American Idol" even though she presently finds herself in pretty much the same situation, involving pictures taken much more recently than five years ago. Given that Davis is black and Barba is white, representatives for Davis and civil rights activists are eagerly crying racism in this matter, going so far as to stage a protest yesterday outside the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, where "American Idol" tapes.

Although there are differences between Davis' situation and Barba's (mainly that the latter wasn't paid to pose for her racy photos nor did she have prior knowledge that the images would be posted to the internet), a civil rights violation has occurred here...and it's got nothing to do with race. It has entirely to do with the fact that Frenchie Davis is fat, while Antonella Barba is skinny.

Everyone knows that skinny people are more attractive than fat people, and nowhere is that delineation more important than in the realm of movies and television. The Antonella Barba scandal (including the full-on pornographic pictures that turned out to not even be of her [secondary link NSFW]), serves as nothing but good publicity for "American Idol", the producers of which can only benefit if people tune into the show for the sole purpose of picturing the contestants naked...but of course, people will only do so if the contestants in question are attractive--i.e., not fat. When the Frenchie Davis scandal broke in 2003, that was nothing but bad news for "American Idol". As talented a singer as Davis might have been, nobody wanted to picture her naked--and when stories about her being naked were all over the news, avoiding the mental image was practically impossible. Hence, Frenchie had to go.

And Barba will stay...that is, of course, until she is properly voted off "American Idol" because of her substandard singing ability, which I'm told is a problem (remember--I don't watch the show). She will not be a victim of racism, just as Frenchie Davis was not. Until people like Najee Ali--the community activist and founder of Project Islamic H.O.P.E. who has inserted himself as Davis' mouthpiece in this matter--(as well as Rosie O'Donnell, whose identification of the weight issue is nullified by the fact that she of all people also focused on race) realize that the real crime is to hide fat people behind the color of their skin, instead of allowing them to be prejudiced against simply for being fat...none of us will truly be free.

UPDATE: Defamer reports that, should her stint on "American Idol" fail to catapult Antonella Barba to musical superstardom, Joe Francis wants a piece. I'm willing to bet that Frenchie Davis did not receive such an offer back in '03.