08-14-2010, 02:09 PM
It?s no secret that I?m often critical of popular culture. I?m a contrarian. As Springsteen sang in <em class='bbc'>Growing Up</em>, ?When they said sit down, I stood up?, I don?t do what people expect. I don?t jump onto bandwagons, I don?t find myself wrapped up in the latest craves and, when people are setting up bandwagons, I consciously avoid whatever it is everyone says I have to watch, do, or read. Take my antipathy to <em class='bbc'>Seinfeld</em> and <em class='bbc'>The Da Vinci Code</em>, for example; neither of these did I get into. Heck, I stopped reading <em class='bbc'>The Da Vinci Code</em> after page one because I could find better use of my time.
As a critic of popular culture, however, it?s important to understand exactly what is trending in popular culture. So I turned to one of the most versatile tools of pop culture this past month, television. I have to say know that I was mistaken in my previous belief as to the absolutely worst channel on TV, Lifetime. I used to loathe Lifetime, the Network for Women. I? not opposed to networks geared to women?s programming. As in literature, women are a major market. However what I loathed about Lifetime was the antipathy toward men in every one of their movies. Watch a Lifetime movie from 1995-2006 and you learn that all of women?s problems can be traced to one source, men. Men cause all the trouble in a woman?s life. Even when the villain is a woman, it?s because she thinks another woman hurt her son or something. Eliminate men, the underlying premise appears to be, and a woman?s life would be a halcyon holiday of joy. Of course, then the plots for Lifetime would evaporate, but that could be worth it.
I was wrong about this. This summer I discovered a network far, far worse than Lifetime. I?m referring to TLC, <em class='bbc'>The Learning Channel</em>. Now, with a name like <em class='bbc'>The Learning Channel</em> one might think that one could learn useful facts which could help one?s life. One could learn more of the greater world about them, ala PBS. You wouldn?t be further wrong. TLC is full of absolute nonsense describing avenues of life in which the overwhelming majority of people will never experience, thank goodness.
Take a show which destroyed a marriage, <em class='bbc'>John and Kate plus Eight</em> (Now <em class='bbc'>Kate Plus Eight</em>). Tracing the daily lives of a couple of narcissists who used fertility medicine and had sextuplets, this was a disaster waiting to happen. Let?s open our family?s lives, all ten of them, to public scrutiny and nothing could go wrong? No, not at all. Of course, the father has an affair, marriage ends, and the mother bravely goes to raise the kids on her own, taking them this next season to Sarah Palin?s Alaska (Yes, the state where she served as governor for 2.5 years before quitting so she could cash in. Character counts, people!). The tabloids last year were all over the break up story, but, I ask you, how many people have 8 kids, six in one go, and let everyone see every aspect of their lives? Can you say screwing things up for life?
But TLC doesn?t stop there. There?s <em class='bbc'>19 Kids and Counting</em>, the story of the Duggars, a family with 19 children. Now, this isn?t husband has kids from previous marriage, wife has kids from previous marriage, and they have more. No, Mrs. Duggar had 19 children. Thank God for modern medicine. The last time it wasn?t completely uncommon to have so frequent pregnancies, most women didn?t survive. I don?t know about you, but my wife and I do not plan on having three kids, much less enough kids to make up a full soccer team!
People might say of the Duaggars, ?well, people want to know how they can possible raise that many kids.? That?s easy. Watch one episode of the show and you see why. The Duggars come from a highly conservative, fundamentalist Christian group who believe that a woman?s place is in the home. That?s how they raise their daughters. These girls aren?t going to go out to become doctors, lawyers, accountants, nurses, teachers, whatever. They?re being raised to be mothers, because the Cult of Domesticity lives on. Hell, I wouldn?t be surprised if the Duggars believe in Anne Coulter?s idea that women shouldn?t vote. Good God, it?s the 21st century.
Speaking of abusing your daughters? Try <em class='bbc'>Toddlers and Tiaras</em>. the show dealing with the high-pressure world of beauty contests for little girls. News flash! All little girls are cute. Putting them in fancy dresses, make-up, jewelry, making them strut and primp at all hours isn?t making them cuter. It?s making the whole thing grotesque and, frankly, these families should be investigated by Child Protective Services.
Then you have your niche shows. <em class='bbc'>Cake Boss</em> and <em class='bbc'>Say Yes to the Dress</em>. These aren?t bad. I don?t get into them, but I do understand that pop culture is interested in wedding details (take the coverage of the Chelsea Clinton wedding. The coverage of that was <em class='bbc'>priceless</em>. the cost figures for the wedding extravaganza kept rising depending on the reporter. In the end, one said that they actually had no way to determine just how much it cost. Great, making things up for the news? You all looking for jobs on Fox?)
Then the new one I see advertised, is story which made me cringe. <em class='bbc'>The Little Couple</em>,. A story of a newlywed couple of two little people. Talk about a niche. I know some little people. I?ve taught two and had a brother of one in my first year. It?s interesting, but putting the story of this couple on the air for all to see harkens me back to the days of the freak show outside of circuses, where people can gawk at the spectacle.
Now, this isn?t to say that any one these stories, having six kids in one go, having 19 children, participating in youth beauty contests, or how little people cope with daily life isn?t interesting. I can see the draw. However, these are worthy of a documentary, or documentary series, not a full 22 episodes for season one, 22 for season two, splashing photos and stories on magazines like <em class='bbc'>People</em>, <em class='bbc'>OK{/i] and the others near the counters at grocery stores. In the end, they do place the subjects of the series behind the fishbowl, open their lives to everyone?s scrutiny, and devastate lives. Freak Show, it is the modern version of the Freak Show, my friends.</em>
As a critic of popular culture, however, it?s important to understand exactly what is trending in popular culture. So I turned to one of the most versatile tools of pop culture this past month, television. I have to say know that I was mistaken in my previous belief as to the absolutely worst channel on TV, Lifetime. I used to loathe Lifetime, the Network for Women. I? not opposed to networks geared to women?s programming. As in literature, women are a major market. However what I loathed about Lifetime was the antipathy toward men in every one of their movies. Watch a Lifetime movie from 1995-2006 and you learn that all of women?s problems can be traced to one source, men. Men cause all the trouble in a woman?s life. Even when the villain is a woman, it?s because she thinks another woman hurt her son or something. Eliminate men, the underlying premise appears to be, and a woman?s life would be a halcyon holiday of joy. Of course, then the plots for Lifetime would evaporate, but that could be worth it.
I was wrong about this. This summer I discovered a network far, far worse than Lifetime. I?m referring to TLC, <em class='bbc'>The Learning Channel</em>. Now, with a name like <em class='bbc'>The Learning Channel</em> one might think that one could learn useful facts which could help one?s life. One could learn more of the greater world about them, ala PBS. You wouldn?t be further wrong. TLC is full of absolute nonsense describing avenues of life in which the overwhelming majority of people will never experience, thank goodness.
Take a show which destroyed a marriage, <em class='bbc'>John and Kate plus Eight</em> (Now <em class='bbc'>Kate Plus Eight</em>). Tracing the daily lives of a couple of narcissists who used fertility medicine and had sextuplets, this was a disaster waiting to happen. Let?s open our family?s lives, all ten of them, to public scrutiny and nothing could go wrong? No, not at all. Of course, the father has an affair, marriage ends, and the mother bravely goes to raise the kids on her own, taking them this next season to Sarah Palin?s Alaska (Yes, the state where she served as governor for 2.5 years before quitting so she could cash in. Character counts, people!). The tabloids last year were all over the break up story, but, I ask you, how many people have 8 kids, six in one go, and let everyone see every aspect of their lives? Can you say screwing things up for life?
But TLC doesn?t stop there. There?s <em class='bbc'>19 Kids and Counting</em>, the story of the Duggars, a family with 19 children. Now, this isn?t husband has kids from previous marriage, wife has kids from previous marriage, and they have more. No, Mrs. Duggar had 19 children. Thank God for modern medicine. The last time it wasn?t completely uncommon to have so frequent pregnancies, most women didn?t survive. I don?t know about you, but my wife and I do not plan on having three kids, much less enough kids to make up a full soccer team!
People might say of the Duaggars, ?well, people want to know how they can possible raise that many kids.? That?s easy. Watch one episode of the show and you see why. The Duggars come from a highly conservative, fundamentalist Christian group who believe that a woman?s place is in the home. That?s how they raise their daughters. These girls aren?t going to go out to become doctors, lawyers, accountants, nurses, teachers, whatever. They?re being raised to be mothers, because the Cult of Domesticity lives on. Hell, I wouldn?t be surprised if the Duggars believe in Anne Coulter?s idea that women shouldn?t vote. Good God, it?s the 21st century.
Speaking of abusing your daughters? Try <em class='bbc'>Toddlers and Tiaras</em>. the show dealing with the high-pressure world of beauty contests for little girls. News flash! All little girls are cute. Putting them in fancy dresses, make-up, jewelry, making them strut and primp at all hours isn?t making them cuter. It?s making the whole thing grotesque and, frankly, these families should be investigated by Child Protective Services.
Then you have your niche shows. <em class='bbc'>Cake Boss</em> and <em class='bbc'>Say Yes to the Dress</em>. These aren?t bad. I don?t get into them, but I do understand that pop culture is interested in wedding details (take the coverage of the Chelsea Clinton wedding. The coverage of that was <em class='bbc'>priceless</em>. the cost figures for the wedding extravaganza kept rising depending on the reporter. In the end, one said that they actually had no way to determine just how much it cost. Great, making things up for the news? You all looking for jobs on Fox?)
Then the new one I see advertised, is story which made me cringe. <em class='bbc'>The Little Couple</em>,. A story of a newlywed couple of two little people. Talk about a niche. I know some little people. I?ve taught two and had a brother of one in my first year. It?s interesting, but putting the story of this couple on the air for all to see harkens me back to the days of the freak show outside of circuses, where people can gawk at the spectacle.
Now, this isn?t to say that any one these stories, having six kids in one go, having 19 children, participating in youth beauty contests, or how little people cope with daily life isn?t interesting. I can see the draw. However, these are worthy of a documentary, or documentary series, not a full 22 episodes for season one, 22 for season two, splashing photos and stories on magazines like <em class='bbc'>People</em>, <em class='bbc'>OK{/i] and the others near the counters at grocery stores. In the end, they do place the subjects of the series behind the fishbowl, open their lives to everyone?s scrutiny, and devastate lives. Freak Show, it is the modern version of the Freak Show, my friends.</em>
I am the milkman of human kindness
And I will bring an extra pint -- B. Bragg
Corporations, which should be the carefully restrained creatures of the law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the people's masters. -- Grover Cleveland
When the laws are used to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society -- the farmers, mechanics, and laborers -- who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their government -- Andrew Jackson
"Capitalism takes no prisoners and kills competition where it can." -- Vince Cable
And I will bring an extra pint -- B. Bragg
Corporations, which should be the carefully restrained creatures of the law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the people's masters. -- Grover Cleveland
When the laws are used to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society -- the farmers, mechanics, and laborers -- who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their government -- Andrew Jackson
"Capitalism takes no prisoners and kills competition where it can." -- Vince Cable
So why is it called "The Learning Channel"? Is their message "Folks, don't get 19 kids"?
