Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s ‘Gen V‘ is the spin-off of the superhero series, ‘The Boys‘, and follows the story of young Supes at Godolkin University. One of the students at the university is a girl named Emma Meyer. Her superpower is that she can become as small as she needs to be. The ability to reduce in size is reminiscent of a similar superpower we witnessed in the premiere of ‘The Boys’ Season 3, which also showed us its lethal consequences. With Emma, however, things work a little differently.
For the other Supe in ‘The Boys,’ it was easier to access his superpower and shrink in size at will. Emma, however, needs to go through a ritual to do it, which is connected to her food intake. Considering the process and its impact on Emma’s mental and physical health, you might wonder if there is more to it than just being part of the process. Does Emma have an eating disorder? SPOILERS AHEAD
Emma Meyer’s Powers Are Related to Her Eating Habits
Emma’s process of shrinking in size and returning to her normal form is inextricably related to food. If she needs to shrink, she will have to puke. The more she vomits, the more she shrinks in size. When she needs to get back to her normal size, all she has to do is eat. It’s unconfirmed whether her size will increase beyond normal and if she will become a giant version of herself if she eats more than she needs to, but in any case, food remains an important part of her life.
Emma doesn’t like to talk about it with others because she knows they will connect it to an eating disorder, which she vehemently denies. When she talks about the process with Justine, and the latter calls it an eating disorder, Emma is quick to dismiss her. She does the same when Marie discovers her process and notices how unhealthy it is for her. Emma’s delicate relationship with food is also highlighted in the conversation with her mother, who keeps fretting about how much she’s had to eat and if she looks a couple of inches shorter because she hasn’t eaten enough.
By far, everything suggests that Emma has an eating disorder. It might have started when her powers started to show, and at first, she might have been in control of it. But now, she tends to lose control whenever her emotions get the best of her. We see it in one scene, where Emma pukes uncontrollably after her fight with Marie and ends up shrinking to such a small size that Marie can barely see her anymore. One might have looked the other way if it was just about her powers. But Emma’s struggle with self-confidence and feeling neglected and small have emerged as one of the important things about her character, which invariably leads the viewers to ponder upon her relationship with food.
It is expected that as the events move forward, Emma might get a confidence boost. It will be interesting to see if her relationship with food in relation to her powers remains the same once she becomes more self-assured. We also still need more insight into her backstory, especially the origin of her powers, to know if it’s all really connected to food, or if her mind made this connection, and if it will go away when she gets better. For now, Emma has a lot on her plate, and acknowledging the problem will be the first step in her road to recovery.
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