Television: The Voice of America

So, in one night, you can see our entire culture, the good and the bad, in a nutshell. Jon Reep wins Last Comic Standing, proving once and for all that the American public really is incredibly slow and simple-minded.

And then you have Kid Nation, the new reality show in which a bunch of kids try and build a community in an abandoned New Mexico ghost town. Put aside the lawsuits for a second – it’s actually an interesting concept for a show, and brought me to tears because some of the kids were so darn sweet and authentic. A few initial observations:

1. Jared is the weirdest kid ever to grace American televisions. And grace is really the wrong word here. He will be remembered for his declaration that he wouldn’t poop for 40 days so as to avoid using the outhouse.

2. How cool is it that within the first 3 days, Sophia introduced busking to the town, in an effort to be able to buy a bike? (My after thought, upon reading the bios about the kids: Oh, and of course I love her. She’s the little Jewish girl.)

3. I’d like to please the elect Michael, the 14-year-old from Washington, as our new president. Seriously. He’s more intellligent and better spoken than at least half the people we have in Congress and the White House.

4. And finally, it just about broke my heart watching Jimmy, the 8-year-old who decided to leave because he was so homesick. On the other hand, good for him for having the courage to do what he really wanted to do.

5. An addendum, after having more time to think about the show: Why did they feel compelled to add money into the show? They could have divided the group into “districts” without adding money and creating a caste system. The kids would never have created this on their own, I don’t think. This really bugs me. Was it the show’s corporate sponsors pushing this agenda?

~ by realsupergirl on September 20, 2007.