Kid Nation: "Not Even Close To Fair"
That was actually their title, not ours! But it's beginning to be the theme of most weekly episodes, not to mention life in general in Bonanza City.
If you read our blog last week, and we sincerely hope you did, you would have been surprised to find that we actually had some good news! We felt that despite inane showdowns, the decided lack of all basic forms of hygiene, and the useless, bordering on detrimental influence of adults, the "pioneers" of Bonanza City were actually coming together as a group. There was cohesion. There was genuine support and affection among the kids. They were...dare we say...becoming friends.
So you know the producers couldn't let that happen! After all, we adults in the audience would rather see kids at each other's throats, right? Who wants to tune in Wednesday night and find a little peace in Bonanza City?
Enter the trusty, dusty journal. The entry that guided the Council last night was, incredibly, written by the fore-pioneers on April 26, 1886. And yet it is so timely today. NOT!
The brilliant guidance provided last night suggested that in order to create "balance" within the community, the Council should "mix up" the districts. This notion was met with great surprise by the Council, who had finally helped achieve unity. The reason given for this idiotic suggestion was that certain districts were top heavy with older kids, and one district, "yellow" had mostly younger kids who did not like to work, i.e., Taylor and Emilie.
It should be noted and applauded that Laurel, our favorite pioneer by a long shot, staunchly refused to mix up her district, insisting that they were good friends, worked well together, had won four gold stars, and did not need to be broken apart.
OK. Reality check: isn't that the point of this whole ridiculous show? Create a society where unity and respect and productivity prevail in the face of contrived adversity? Laurel was right. And for her stance, she was roundly admonished by her Council peers.
Remember Laurel's stance.
Anjay, clearly a weak Council member who struggles each week to gain his district's respect thought the idea would be difficult to implement. "This is dynamite waiting to happen", was his take on the matter.
But because this show is about trumped-up drama and undermining any progress the kids might actually make on their own, the Council brought everyone together to give them the news. The reaction of the community was unanimous and vocal. And it got mean. Really mean. No one wanted to switch districts. And after all the commotion and conversation and gut-wrenching decision-making (cue laugh track) only three people moved to a different district. Is it just us, or was that really ridiculous?! After all the drama, what this move did was to focus everyone's attention on three kids, two of them a little troubled and out of the mainstream, and one of them, Blaine, was simply needed on a weak district to balance the physical strength. Everyone else stayed in their assigned groups. When Laurel announced that her group would be unchanged, her kids cheered and were relieved, but, again, she was maligned by the rest of the community. Unbridled anger was pretty much the order of the day, as the three kids made their moves to their new bunkhouses.
Blaine, a strong, strapping 14 year old, actually felt that he would finally be out of Greg's shadow and maybe get some credit for all that he contributes. Greg is the oldest kid, by far the strongest, and quite often the most angry. He was, you may recall, no friend to the chicken.
So now, after weeks of building consensus and community, Bonanza City was in chaos.
In past weeks we at Safety4Kids have been concerned about numerous aspects of this show and its impact on these kids. Physical safety, health issues, emotional well being. We have raised issues concerning the long term effects and wondered aloud about the parents who signed the contracts. Last night, it became even clearer to us that the manipulation of these kids for some perceived dramatic effect, was the only objective, and it was actually disheartening as well as disappointing. We thought that perhaps, because the kids seem to be building a genuine feeling of community, that we would just see this grow and flourish. But "dynamite" it was last night, and now all those weeks of suffering (the audience as well as the pioneers) in order to create cohesion, were for naught. Bonanza City is in utter chaos. There is anger everywhere, and for the first time since the beginning, a younger child, Randi, left the show.
All of this made us angry, too. Why couldn't they just leave the kids alone to continue what clearly they were achieving? Does CBS really believe that we like seeing these kids suffer and get angry with each other and live in chaos?
This is not only a setback for the fake community, it's a setback emotionally for these kids, for real. How can they try, even in a television world, to move forward when the producers impose on them this overlay of distrust and anger?
Well, it appears the answer comes next week, of course. The show ended last night with the pioneers voting overwhelmingly to hold elections again, demonstrating their lack of support for the current Council.
Remember Laurel, who stood up for her group, held them together, refused to be broken apart for some perceived imbalance, and was criticized for it? Well, at the town meeting kids started saying that only Laurel stood up for her district. But where did it get her? The kids knew in their hearts this was a bad idea, but they were obviously under contract to do it. So now, in one move, they've undone all the good. They've blown up the system they worked hard to develop. The Council that just last week could have easily won a popularity contest, is now slated for removal.
Seems the only real lesson being learned in Kid Nation is that adults just can't stand it when kids actually do achieve anything on their own. It's not just a sad day in Bonanza City - it's a sad day for us all.
(c) CBS. Kid Nation (c) Paul Moore. Image from BigStockPhoto.com
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: Kid Nation, Safety4Kids, entertainment, TV, reality show, review
If you read our blog last week, and we sincerely hope you did, you would have been surprised to find that we actually had some good news! We felt that despite inane showdowns, the decided lack of all basic forms of hygiene, and the useless, bordering on detrimental influence of adults, the "pioneers" of Bonanza City were actually coming together as a group. There was cohesion. There was genuine support and affection among the kids. They were...dare we say...becoming friends.
So you know the producers couldn't let that happen! After all, we adults in the audience would rather see kids at each other's throats, right? Who wants to tune in Wednesday night and find a little peace in Bonanza City?
The brilliant guidance provided last night suggested that in order to create "balance" within the community, the Council should "mix up" the districts. This notion was met with great surprise by the Council, who had finally helped achieve unity. The reason given for this idiotic suggestion was that certain districts were top heavy with older kids, and one district, "yellow" had mostly younger kids who did not like to work, i.e., Taylor and Emilie.
It should be noted and applauded that Laurel, our favorite pioneer by a long shot, staunchly refused to mix up her district, insisting that they were good friends, worked well together, had won four gold stars, and did not need to be broken apart.
OK. Reality check: isn't that the point of this whole ridiculous show? Create a society where unity and respect and productivity prevail in the face of contrived adversity? Laurel was right. And for her stance, she was roundly admonished by her Council peers.
Remember Laurel's stance.
Anjay, clearly a weak Council member who struggles each week to gain his district's respect thought the idea would be difficult to implement. "This is dynamite waiting to happen", was his take on the matter.
Blaine, a strong, strapping 14 year old, actually felt that he would finally be out of Greg's shadow and maybe get some credit for all that he contributes. Greg is the oldest kid, by far the strongest, and quite often the most angry. He was, you may recall, no friend to the chicken.
So now, after weeks of building consensus and community, Bonanza City was in chaos.
In past weeks we at Safety4Kids have been concerned about numerous aspects of this show and its impact on these kids. Physical safety, health issues, emotional well being. We have raised issues concerning the long term effects and wondered aloud about the parents who signed the contracts. Last night, it became even clearer to us that the manipulation of these kids for some perceived dramatic effect, was the only objective, and it was actually disheartening as well as disappointing. We thought that perhaps, because the kids seem to be building a genuine feeling of community, that we would just see this grow and flourish. But "dynamite" it was last night, and now all those weeks of suffering (the audience as well as the pioneers) in order to create cohesion, were for naught. Bonanza City is in utter chaos. There is anger everywhere, and for the first time since the beginning, a younger child, Randi, left the show.
All of this made us angry, too. Why couldn't they just leave the kids alone to continue what clearly they were achieving? Does CBS really believe that we like seeing these kids suffer and get angry with each other and live in chaos?
This is not only a setback for the fake community, it's a setback emotionally for these kids, for real. How can they try, even in a television world, to move forward when the producers impose on them this overlay of distrust and anger?
Well, it appears the answer comes next week, of course. The show ended last night with the pioneers voting overwhelmingly to hold elections again, demonstrating their lack of support for the current Council.
Remember Laurel, who stood up for her group, held them together, refused to be broken apart for some perceived imbalance, and was criticized for it? Well, at the town meeting kids started saying that only Laurel stood up for her district. But where did it get her? The kids knew in their hearts this was a bad idea, but they were obviously under contract to do it. So now, in one move, they've undone all the good. They've blown up the system they worked hard to develop. The Council that just last week could have easily won a popularity contest, is now slated for removal.
Seems the only real lesson being learned in Kid Nation is that adults just can't stand it when kids actually do achieve anything on their own. It's not just a sad day in Bonanza City - it's a sad day for us all.
(c) CBS. Kid Nation (c) Paul Moore. Image from BigStockPhoto.com
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: Kid Nation, Safety4Kids, entertainment, TV, reality show, review
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