Kid Nation: Starved for Entertainment, But Not Gum
"Bonanza City is getting really, really, really, dull."
Once again the kids themselves, in this case Mike, have provided us with our opening line. And our overarching sentiment. Yet we persevere.
Last night Kid Nation had some reasonably good results to report. The kids quickly decided that they were bored out of their minds; evidenced by a group of them discovering that lying on the ground actually provided them with some form of entertainment. This was not good news, even to them.
So D.K., who has taken the lead in the past, did so again and rang the bell to gather the troops. Once together, he stated the obvious: there is nothing to do in Bonanza City. Nothing except chores. They were all "starved for entertainment."
The Council quickly retreated to their wise "journal" where, lo and behold, they found the answer! Put on a show! The Council assembled a quick meeting and announced the plan, which got a rousing ovation. The kids had one day to prepare their "acts." There were discussions about stand-up comedy, Shakespeare, music and dance.
This gave us a shudder, but more about that later.
First, the "Showdown." It's that time every week where Jonathan, the "lone" adult, shows up and announces some form of challenge that will ultimately divide the group just as they were beginning to feel cohesive. Hmmm...a reminder of the adult world, perhaps? A way to create drama where clearly there is none? We're beginning to feel that as soon as Jonathan shows up on the scene, the show takes a decided turn for the worse. If the premise (which clearly the producers long ago abandoned but we're still trying to hold on to!) was to let kids create a better world, or at least give it a try, it's notable that the only time an adult appears is to remind the Bonanza City inhabitants of class structure, winning and losing, and how adults can make kids do anything in order to earn a reward.
The real breakthrough on this show will come when the kids refuse to do what Jonathan proposes.
This Showdown was flat out revolting.
Guylan: "I thought that this was going to be disgusting and just all around gross; as soon as we started, I realized that I was completely right."
Zack: "It was disgusting."
It's one of those head-scratching things--imagining how the producers come up with these ridiculous, disgusting, demeaning tasks week after week. But one thing is certain: whoever dreams these up has no respect for these kids. Yet another wonderful lesson in life, brought to you by the producers!
Given that the kids were striving to inject a little culture into their lives, the Showdown was purportedly about creating art. Art with bubblegum, that is.
Each district leader handed out quarters to their team, who ran to large bubble gum machines and for one hour straight, chewed and chewed until the gum was pliable enough to be attached, by hand, to a large, empty canvas. The canvas had an image, not unlike a color-by-number scene, only the color was represented by chewed gum. If only we were kidding. The district leader had to take the chewed gum, saliva and all, and find a way to make it adhere to the canvas. If all the teams completed the challenge within an hour, the town would receive a great reward. Well, it didn't happen, so Jonathan gathered the kids to show them what they were missing: a choice between cans of paint, literally to paint the town, or the materials needed to throw a block party--popcorn machine, disco ball, etc. The kids were disappointed, but not crushed. After all, they still had their talent show!
Ok. Before we go any further, a moment of silence for dental hygiene. We are, after all, Safety4Kids, so we can't let this go! If you recall, it was weeks before these kids got toothbrushes and toothpaste. Many have braces, some have missing teeth, but now surely they all have cavities! Laurel expressed her concern last night: "My orthodontist is going to kill me." What is the point of this? A solid hour of chewing gum? All that sugar? All those aching jaws? Which brings us again to the problems in Bonanza City that are most often instigated by the arrival of the adult. Odd indeed. Perhaps in the tome of a contract the parents have signed, there is a dental clause. Something about indemnifying the producers and CBS when, a few years from now, the kids have lost all their teeth.
As in most episodes of Kid Nation, there is a side story, playing itself out all evening. Last night it was Savannah's homesickness and her friends, most notably Kennedy and Alex, trying to comfort her and convince her to stay. She was crying, missing her parents, and debating whether or not to leave Bonanza City. Who could blame her?
But it's time for the talent show.
As we watched, we were reminded of that moment when you go to a friend's house for dinner, after which they announce that their wondrous, talented offspring have prepared a little entertainment. You wish you had opted for that second glass of wine. You brace yourself. The room grows silent. The theme song from "Annie" is belted out, often without accompaniment, and you find a way to paste that smile on your face that your host believes is genuine awe and you know is more shock. Make it stop, you think to yourself.
But last night, something truly remarkable happened as the performances began: the kids were genuinely supportive, encouraging each other with laughter and applause. The performances were what you would expect--by and large perfectly awful--but it didn't matter. The kids were laughing, enjoying themselves, and being kids. And being friends. And it was clear that this disparate group had coalesced. There was unity. There was cohesion. There were no adults. Take that, Jonathan! And there were no rewards, no divisive groupings, no peculiar and disgusting challenges. Just kids trying to entertain each other and relieve the boredom. And it was actually sweet. Really. And then Savannah announced that she was staying in Bonanza City. The kids cheered.
Lesson to be learned: if you want to see if these kids can create a better world, ADULTS BUTT OUT! How about a week where Jonathan doesn't show up and pit one group against the other?
(Side note: the kids seem to be ever so slightly annoyed by Jonathan's appearance, or are we just projecting?)
The Council awarded the coveted gold star to Kennedy for her kindness and support of Savannah, and her willingness to be silly and entertain everyone at the Talent Show. We had not even seen Kennedy before tonight. It was a popular decision. And in Kennedy's acceptance speech, she mentioned that in Bonanza City, "you can be different" and be a winner.
This Council is very effective and democratic; they look for consensus before awarding the gold star, which is a happy departure from the tyrannical rule of Taylor! And Laurel is clearly the council leader. She represents what's best in any human being: she's kind and fair and generous. And deserving of many gold stars. In a final moment of the show, D.K. stood up and asked that Laurel sing. She stood up and sang "Amazing Grace" a cappella, to a stunned audience, both on screen and off. Perhaps she's on the wrong show. American Idol anyone?
(c) Susan Quinland-Stringer. Image from BigStockPhoto.com
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: Kid Nation, Safety4Kids, entertainment, TV, reality show, review
Once again the kids themselves, in this case Mike, have provided us with our opening line. And our overarching sentiment. Yet we persevere.
Last night Kid Nation had some reasonably good results to report. The kids quickly decided that they were bored out of their minds; evidenced by a group of them discovering that lying on the ground actually provided them with some form of entertainment. This was not good news, even to them.
So D.K., who has taken the lead in the past, did so again and rang the bell to gather the troops. Once together, he stated the obvious: there is nothing to do in Bonanza City. Nothing except chores. They were all "starved for entertainment."
The Council quickly retreated to their wise "journal" where, lo and behold, they found the answer! Put on a show! The Council assembled a quick meeting and announced the plan, which got a rousing ovation. The kids had one day to prepare their "acts." There were discussions about stand-up comedy, Shakespeare, music and dance.
This gave us a shudder, but more about that later.
First, the "Showdown." It's that time every week where Jonathan, the "lone" adult, shows up and announces some form of challenge that will ultimately divide the group just as they were beginning to feel cohesive. Hmmm...a reminder of the adult world, perhaps? A way to create drama where clearly there is none? We're beginning to feel that as soon as Jonathan shows up on the scene, the show takes a decided turn for the worse. If the premise (which clearly the producers long ago abandoned but we're still trying to hold on to!) was to let kids create a better world, or at least give it a try, it's notable that the only time an adult appears is to remind the Bonanza City inhabitants of class structure, winning and losing, and how adults can make kids do anything in order to earn a reward.The real breakthrough on this show will come when the kids refuse to do what Jonathan proposes.
This Showdown was flat out revolting.
Guylan: "I thought that this was going to be disgusting and just all around gross; as soon as we started, I realized that I was completely right."
Zack: "It was disgusting."
It's one of those head-scratching things--imagining how the producers come up with these ridiculous, disgusting, demeaning tasks week after week. But one thing is certain: whoever dreams these up has no respect for these kids. Yet another wonderful lesson in life, brought to you by the producers!
Given that the kids were striving to inject a little culture into their lives, the Showdown was purportedly about creating art. Art with bubblegum, that is.
Each district leader handed out quarters to their team, who ran to large bubble gum machines and for one hour straight, chewed and chewed until the gum was pliable enough to be attached, by hand, to a large, empty canvas. The canvas had an image, not unlike a color-by-number scene, only the color was represented by chewed gum. If only we were kidding. The district leader had to take the chewed gum, saliva and all, and find a way to make it adhere to the canvas. If all the teams completed the challenge within an hour, the town would receive a great reward. Well, it didn't happen, so Jonathan gathered the kids to show them what they were missing: a choice between cans of paint, literally to paint the town, or the materials needed to throw a block party--popcorn machine, disco ball, etc. The kids were disappointed, but not crushed. After all, they still had their talent show!
Ok. Before we go any further, a moment of silence for dental hygiene. We are, after all, Safety4Kids, so we can't let this go! If you recall, it was weeks before these kids got toothbrushes and toothpaste. Many have braces, some have missing teeth, but now surely they all have cavities! Laurel expressed her concern last night: "My orthodontist is going to kill me." What is the point of this? A solid hour of chewing gum? All that sugar? All those aching jaws? Which brings us again to the problems in Bonanza City that are most often instigated by the arrival of the adult. Odd indeed. Perhaps in the tome of a contract the parents have signed, there is a dental clause. Something about indemnifying the producers and CBS when, a few years from now, the kids have lost all their teeth.
As in most episodes of Kid Nation, there is a side story, playing itself out all evening. Last night it was Savannah's homesickness and her friends, most notably Kennedy and Alex, trying to comfort her and convince her to stay. She was crying, missing her parents, and debating whether or not to leave Bonanza City. Who could blame her?
But it's time for the talent show.
As we watched, we were reminded of that moment when you go to a friend's house for dinner, after which they announce that their wondrous, talented offspring have prepared a little entertainment. You wish you had opted for that second glass of wine. You brace yourself. The room grows silent. The theme song from "Annie" is belted out, often without accompaniment, and you find a way to paste that smile on your face that your host believes is genuine awe and you know is more shock. Make it stop, you think to yourself.
But last night, something truly remarkable happened as the performances began: the kids were genuinely supportive, encouraging each other with laughter and applause. The performances were what you would expect--by and large perfectly awful--but it didn't matter. The kids were laughing, enjoying themselves, and being kids. And being friends. And it was clear that this disparate group had coalesced. There was unity. There was cohesion. There were no adults. Take that, Jonathan! And there were no rewards, no divisive groupings, no peculiar and disgusting challenges. Just kids trying to entertain each other and relieve the boredom. And it was actually sweet. Really. And then Savannah announced that she was staying in Bonanza City. The kids cheered.
Lesson to be learned: if you want to see if these kids can create a better world, ADULTS BUTT OUT! How about a week where Jonathan doesn't show up and pit one group against the other?
(Side note: the kids seem to be ever so slightly annoyed by Jonathan's appearance, or are we just projecting?)
The Council awarded the coveted gold star to Kennedy for her kindness and support of Savannah, and her willingness to be silly and entertain everyone at the Talent Show. We had not even seen Kennedy before tonight. It was a popular decision. And in Kennedy's acceptance speech, she mentioned that in Bonanza City, "you can be different" and be a winner.
This Council is very effective and democratic; they look for consensus before awarding the gold star, which is a happy departure from the tyrannical rule of Taylor! And Laurel is clearly the council leader. She represents what's best in any human being: she's kind and fair and generous. And deserving of many gold stars. In a final moment of the show, D.K. stood up and asked that Laurel sing. She stood up and sang "Amazing Grace" a cappella, to a stunned audience, both on screen and off. Perhaps she's on the wrong show. American Idol anyone?
(c) Susan Quinland-Stringer. Image from BigStockPhoto.com
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: Kid Nation, Safety4Kids, entertainment, TV, reality show, review
3 Comments:
We are, after all, Safety4Kids
I thought you were TVCheckup?
Did I end up on the wrong blog?
Hi Anonymous,
You're in the right place. Our TV Checkup blog is authored by many different people. Safety4Kids writes our Kid Nation posts.
Thanks for asking!
Just when you thought this show could not get worse...how could anybody in their right minds at CBS have decided that making children chew gum for an hour as part of a task is wise? Or even ok?? And for the purpose of making it stick to some bizarre collage? Not that the purpose even matters; either way it's disgusting and inane. Everything their parents taught them (or should have taught them) about taking care of their teeth just went down the drain. Not to mention the fact that they've only recently started brushing their teeth!! Ugh.
Of course, this gum task is indicative of a much larger problem with this show: it aims at the lofty goals of "making the world better" and creating some sort of an ideal child-run society, yet it utterly, stupidly neglects to enforce one of the basic tenets that marks a functioning society: teaching children from the very beginning to take care of themselves and their health and their well-being. This of course goes for the food these children are eating on the show as well.
CBS is treating this show as some sort of "Survivor-Lite", and the gum is a replacement for the bugs that they make people eat on Survivor, but THESE ARE CHILDREN, not mini-adults, and they are smack in the middle of their formative stages, and they will remember these things and carry them with them, and no, this will not do anything to form a "better society".
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