From the ‘90s, well into the late 2000s, there was one type of rom-com heroine: She was funny and clumsy, and saddled by the horrors of bad hair and leftover Chinese food. That is, until she met her Prince Charming — and a brush. Because a $2.99 purchase at CVS was all she needed to conform to the beauty standard. After all, she was the beauty standard.
In 2009, representation as a concept might as well have been considered a bad word in Hollywood. Rachael Leigh Cook and Sandra Bullock were the “girl next door,” despite having conventional movie star good looks. Fat women were used as comedy, or wallpaper, in any given scene, never given an opportunity to be swept off their feet. But Drop Dead Diva looked to switch things up, creating an alternative rom-com heroine in Brooke Elliott's Jane, truly the total package.
In our latest episode of our TV origins podcast, TV. Watch. Repeat., my co-host Allison Piwowarski and I celebrate Drop Dead Diva and its ability to balance a complicated premise and body politics in the most wholesome and charming of ways. And celebrate Elliott herself — an actress that never got enough credit for playing the multi-dimensional model-in-a-lawyer's-brain in the procedural dramedy.
So grab your Ironic Taffy nail polish and enjoy the story of Drop Dead Diva on our latest episode of TV. Watch. Repeat. on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And be sure to check out our daily pop culture podcast, Pop Chaser, for all your entertainment headline needs!
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