This new US TV show called 'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo' - starring the inimitable 'Honey Boo Boo' from 'Toddlers & Tiaras' - has pulled in huge ratings [2.2 million] for its premiere show in the US recently. It stars this family:
Here is the trailer:
And here is an explanation - laced with oodles of sarcasm - announcing the launch of the show:
The Jezebel site wrote an excellent piece on the inevitable backlash.
In the piece, they write:
This happens every time a reality show becomes a huge hit and crosses over into iconographic territory. Social critics start wringing their hands over how low we've sunk as a civilization, joke about how said show is a sign of an impending apocalypse, and express shock that anyone could bring themselves to watch such "trash." My favorite, though, is when people like Belkin [see quote below] profess their concern for the subjects of these shows and how they're being mocked. The implication is that people on reality TV, like the Thompsons, can't even comprehend that their lives are totally unfit to be broadcast on television. The sentiment, essentially, is that these people are too stupid and ignorant to know that their lives are unessential and embarrassing. Publicly voicing such opinions is the height of rudeness. Also, give these shitshows a little more credit: the stars tend to know why they're on air. They're not as clueless as we might like to believe.
Here's what Lisa Belkin from the Huffington Post wrote about the show:
I don't think people are watching them as role models. I think people are watching them to laugh…And it shouldn't be fun to watch. I'm not quite sure how we got there.
What do you think? Are you fascinated or disgusted by these shows? And should we be airing them at all?
In the same article, this excerpt:
Jersey Shore, The Real Housewives, Toddlers & Tiaras, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Teen Mom—they might not be representations of the America that you like, but they're a part of an America that exists. As TLC president Eileen O'Neill recently told the Washington Post, "[These] are worlds that exist with or without our camera there." And that's very true (at least in the first season of any reality show, before its subjects are affected by the trappings of fame). But reality TV is so ubiquitous—and actually, a viable career option—that documenting how people react to that just-add-water brand of insta-celebrity is a worthy social study.
Thoughts?
Stay tuned for an Australian screen date, likely to be on Foxtel.
For more, click here:
http://jezebel.com/5936292/here-comes-the-honey-boo-boo-backlash
UPDATED: Foxtel Australia will start screening 'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo' from Thursday January 31 at 8pm, on the Discovery Home and Health channel [channel 640]. Check the channel for repeats.
Here is the trailer:
And here is an explanation - laced with oodles of sarcasm - announcing the launch of the show:
The Jezebel site wrote an excellent piece on the inevitable backlash.
In the piece, they write:
This happens every time a reality show becomes a huge hit and crosses over into iconographic territory. Social critics start wringing their hands over how low we've sunk as a civilization, joke about how said show is a sign of an impending apocalypse, and express shock that anyone could bring themselves to watch such "trash." My favorite, though, is when people like Belkin [see quote below] profess their concern for the subjects of these shows and how they're being mocked. The implication is that people on reality TV, like the Thompsons, can't even comprehend that their lives are totally unfit to be broadcast on television. The sentiment, essentially, is that these people are too stupid and ignorant to know that their lives are unessential and embarrassing. Publicly voicing such opinions is the height of rudeness. Also, give these shitshows a little more credit: the stars tend to know why they're on air. They're not as clueless as we might like to believe.
Here's what Lisa Belkin from the Huffington Post wrote about the show:
I don't think people are watching them as role models. I think people are watching them to laugh…And it shouldn't be fun to watch. I'm not quite sure how we got there.
What do you think? Are you fascinated or disgusted by these shows? And should we be airing them at all?
In the same article, this excerpt:
Jersey Shore, The Real Housewives, Toddlers & Tiaras, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Teen Mom—they might not be representations of the America that you like, but they're a part of an America that exists. As TLC president Eileen O'Neill recently told the Washington Post, "[These] are worlds that exist with or without our camera there." And that's very true (at least in the first season of any reality show, before its subjects are affected by the trappings of fame). But reality TV is so ubiquitous—and actually, a viable career option—that documenting how people react to that just-add-water brand of insta-celebrity is a worthy social study.
Thoughts?
Stay tuned for an Australian screen date, likely to be on Foxtel.
For more, click here:
http://jezebel.com/5936292/here-comes-the-honey-boo-boo-backlash
UPDATED: Foxtel Australia will start screening 'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo' from Thursday January 31 at 8pm, on the Discovery Home and Health channel [channel 640]. Check the channel for repeats.
Looks appalling. And yes... I will be watching, dammit. Bring on an Aussie screen date... ;)
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