Too Real Reality...
Hoping to have some time to write this week—came up with a nice plot twist for one of my WIP that might just inspire me to take it all the way to the end. We’ll see…
In the meantime, this interesting tidbit: ABC's new reality show, “Welcome to the Neighborhood,” was pulled before it could air due to complaints that it trivialized discrimination. Here’s the premise: 3 white, conservative families in Texas are given the chance to choose a new neighbor. Bigotry ensues when the choices are presented: minority families, a gay couple, a practicing witch, and what’s nastily known as ‘white trash’ (people with tattoos and a fondness for Velveeta and beer...you know, my relatives). According to the AP, ABC’s intention was to “promote a healthy and open debate about prejudice and people’s fear of differences.” Complaints centered on the fact that racist remarks and jokes were uncensored and unchallenged, leaving the impression that bigotry was sitcom-friendly. So ABC buckled and pulled the show.
Now, I’m not so sure the network’s intentions were really that altruistic—they wouldn’t have wanted to put ‘Neighborhood’ on at all unless they knew it would be controversial and get big ratings—and big $$$. Why else does a network present anything? But I guess the potential ratings bonanza wasn’t enough to overcome the inevitable bad press for doing what a show like that allegedly does—depict REALITY. We’re a racist nation… No I mean, species. It’s human nature to fear change and differences, but I guess it’s bad manners to actually shine a light on it. ABCs cheesy, button-pushing format was probably not the best avenue for the dialog we so desperately need, but I still think if we talk about it, we might learn something about our prejudices and fears.
In this vein, I saw that MTV is presenting “1970s House.” What a cop-out (to use the Linc-esque vernacular of the era)! Another vapid “house” reality show, tossing a bunch of mismatched but attractive people together and watching them argue over who left the toilet seat up. The gimmick this time is truly awful duds (trust me, I wore hip-huggers, body-suits, Earth shoes, and even a mood ring—they’re UGLY), even worse furniture (why was everything lime-green and plastic in the 70s?) and jokes about pot and post-pill, pre-AIDS sexual promiscuity.
If MTV really had balls, they’d do something ground-breaking, something that will actually force the youth of today to look at our history and THEMSELVES in a new way. How about 1950s house? Sexual repression, segregation, lethal racism, dead-end jobs for women, Communism, paranoia, Cinema-Scope, the whole shebang. Or how about Plantation House? The recent documentary on Slavery on PBS was really eye-opening, but the MTV crowd probably didn’t see it—too busy watching “Punk’d” or “Fear Factor.” How about a real reality show that depicts what slavery was like, for both blacks and whites? That would be courageous—and maybe the audience will actually learn something.
Whew! That was some rant, huh? I’ll close with a mini-review of the five movies I saw over the last week: “Batman Begins,” fun, Christian Bale’s Batman, strangely sexy; “Bewitched,” don’t bother, bewildering; “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” fully lousy; “Howl’s Moving Castle,” dazzling, wonderful, incomprehensible—see it!; and “War of the Worlds,” fun when in summer-action flick mode, but when Spielberg goes for literary—you should go for popcorn.
Janet – No power in the ‘verse can stop me!
In the meantime, this interesting tidbit: ABC's new reality show, “Welcome to the Neighborhood,” was pulled before it could air due to complaints that it trivialized discrimination. Here’s the premise: 3 white, conservative families in Texas are given the chance to choose a new neighbor. Bigotry ensues when the choices are presented: minority families, a gay couple, a practicing witch, and what’s nastily known as ‘white trash’ (people with tattoos and a fondness for Velveeta and beer...you know, my relatives). According to the AP, ABC’s intention was to “promote a healthy and open debate about prejudice and people’s fear of differences.” Complaints centered on the fact that racist remarks and jokes were uncensored and unchallenged, leaving the impression that bigotry was sitcom-friendly. So ABC buckled and pulled the show.
Now, I’m not so sure the network’s intentions were really that altruistic—they wouldn’t have wanted to put ‘Neighborhood’ on at all unless they knew it would be controversial and get big ratings—and big $$$. Why else does a network present anything? But I guess the potential ratings bonanza wasn’t enough to overcome the inevitable bad press for doing what a show like that allegedly does—depict REALITY. We’re a racist nation… No I mean, species. It’s human nature to fear change and differences, but I guess it’s bad manners to actually shine a light on it. ABCs cheesy, button-pushing format was probably not the best avenue for the dialog we so desperately need, but I still think if we talk about it, we might learn something about our prejudices and fears.
In this vein, I saw that MTV is presenting “1970s House.” What a cop-out (to use the Linc-esque vernacular of the era)! Another vapid “house” reality show, tossing a bunch of mismatched but attractive people together and watching them argue over who left the toilet seat up. The gimmick this time is truly awful duds (trust me, I wore hip-huggers, body-suits, Earth shoes, and even a mood ring—they’re UGLY), even worse furniture (why was everything lime-green and plastic in the 70s?) and jokes about pot and post-pill, pre-AIDS sexual promiscuity.
If MTV really had balls, they’d do something ground-breaking, something that will actually force the youth of today to look at our history and THEMSELVES in a new way. How about 1950s house? Sexual repression, segregation, lethal racism, dead-end jobs for women, Communism, paranoia, Cinema-Scope, the whole shebang. Or how about Plantation House? The recent documentary on Slavery on PBS was really eye-opening, but the MTV crowd probably didn’t see it—too busy watching “Punk’d” or “Fear Factor.” How about a real reality show that depicts what slavery was like, for both blacks and whites? That would be courageous—and maybe the audience will actually learn something.
Whew! That was some rant, huh? I’ll close with a mini-review of the five movies I saw over the last week: “Batman Begins,” fun, Christian Bale’s Batman, strangely sexy; “Bewitched,” don’t bother, bewildering; “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” fully lousy; “Howl’s Moving Castle,” dazzling, wonderful, incomprehensible—see it!; and “War of the Worlds,” fun when in summer-action flick mode, but when Spielberg goes for literary—you should go for popcorn.
Janet – No power in the ‘verse can stop me!
posted by Janet at 11:04 AM
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