Good Morning.
Today, after being asked to consider our better selves in the wake of two catastrophic weather events, I offer a look at four television shows that do not contribute to a more thoughtful, enlightened citizenry.
I begin with Family Feud, a long-running show that has people from two families answering survey questions that used to be about matters like holiday spending or household chores. Not anymore. The questions are carefully crafted to elicit answers of a juvenile bathroom or graphically sexual nature. Contestants, who can be police officers, kindergarten teachers, or somebody's grandparents, have no problem spitting out words and phrases that weren't even uttered in the privacy of one's home only a decade ago, and there's a prime time celebrity version for those who can't watch this mindlessness during the day.
Moving right along, we have The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Here we have a person who is provided with two dozen people of the opposite sex who are supposedly husband or wife material. The person goes on solo dates that may involve a romantic dinner in an Italian villa or a balloon ride over the Irish countryside. The person goes on group dates with half a dozen drooling suitors or desperate women who participate in a variety of silly activities. The hunter/huntress also engages in more than casual physical affection with at least half the hopefuls, pares down the potential mates, and hands out a rose to the weekly survivors. Eventually the choices are narrowed to three who are interviewed by the parents - middle-aged adults who don't seem terribly concerned that their son or daughter has just fooled around with who knows how many on national television. The three finalists are then offered a "fantasy suite" for a serious test drive, and the final show involves the loser
retreating to a limousine after just emerging from one of the pre-nuptial bedrooms and the winner expected to issue or accept a marriage proposal.
Now we have something called Four Weddings that involves a quartet of brides who attend each others' weddings and assign a rating to the dress, the food, and the overall experience at each occasion with the woman receiving the highest score winning a trip. Factors than can sink the ship include a religious ceremony because most of the rites are rather secular in nature, not enough booze to get the guests gyrating around on the dance floor, and not enough choices for dinner. The Chicken Marsala and a piece of wedding cake no longer suffice; now there must be an elaborate hors d'oeuvres table, three or four possible entrees, perfectly prepared, of course, to the critic's liking, and a selection of two dozen desserts. The contestants take apart every seam of the dresses other than their own, fuss about the venues other than their own, and make the viewer wonder if the world has gone completely bonkers.
I pause to briefly reference The Miss America Pageant, aired last evening with updates on Hurricane Irma. This event claims to be better than the other beauty contests because it has a talent competition and a question and answer section that deals with issues like racial profiling and gun violence. The bikini parade is now called "the fitness portion" and the evening gowns
plunge to the waist that is also the destination of the slit up the thigh, but the show is obviously designed to attract the PBS viewer looking for new opportunities to enjoy America's talent and intelligent conversation.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
Comments