Reality Television Reaches New Lows

                  Anyone that knows me, understands that there are very few reality shows that I can tolerate, let alone enjoy. Competition shows are one thing, and even those are edited to create drama that doesn't exist and tend to be painfully dragged out if you don't have the benefit of DVR to fast forward past the commercials. That being said, I am sure there are some reality shows that are interesting because of the subject matter, rather than the 'characters' involved. The show I am about to talk about is certainly not one of those shows even though ironically enough, in this case the subject matter alone could make you cringe even before meeting any of the people that are featured in it. I might be a little late to the party as far as contributing to the outcry for this program is concerned, but I just had to comment on it after bearing witness to only mere moments of this show as I was flipping through the channels last night.

                If anyone has been keeping up with my last few posts, you may think you know which show I'm talking about, but avid Jersey Shore supporters need not worry. I am calling off the dogs for now so that I can focus on a show that dare I say, is even more deplorable; TLC's Toddlers & Tiaras.

                Certainly there are those that appreciate the cuteness of children and the joys of face painting, but after seeing parts of this show, I strongly contest that we should reserve this type of behavior for Halloween and/or young kids whom have a passion for being an actual circus clown. Some of these little girls really are cute and some of the makeup jobs and costumes aren't all that bad, but a vast majority of these kids are too young to realize what is going on and are unwilling participants in what is essentially a dog show for humans where the promotional trophies that are awarded are more important to the parents than they are to the children. The show is filled with plenty of crying and what the parents deem to be poor behavior, but with that said, I don't understand how these toddler pageants aren't considered torturous. I know that might seem harsh, but how do these parents not realize that of course your daughter is going to cry when you are gluing fake eyelashes to her face and spraying her with fake tan against their will! Then on top of it, they have to deal with their parents yelling at them and threatening them if they don't wipe their tears away, put on a smile and dance the jig that they diligently rehearsed for hours upon hours of each day leading up to the pageant. It's flat out cruel in my opinion.

             As if that wasn't bad enough, the episode that was broadcast last night actually made me angry for several reasons other than the aforementioned abuse. Some of these parents should have their children taken away from them. Case in point was the mother of a two-year old that couldn't even walk under her own power yet. So naturally, the child was being held by her mother in one arm as they awaited their turn to go on stage. Unfortunately for the child, the mother was more interested in what was going on around her while her daughter was being literally flailed around like a small sack of potatoes. At one point the baby was bent over backwards draped over her mother's forearm and what's worse is that when the mother realized this, she swung the child's body forward to straighten her out and the momentum carried the baby's head directly into the door they were standing in front of. How one can have such blatant disregard for their child is dreadful as it is, but it got even more disgusting and intolerable when the mother then grew upset because the already swelling bruise on her daughter's head, coupled with hysterical crying would likely decrease her favorability with the judges. This was reason enough to change the channel because I had certainly seen more than I ever wanted to already, but I stuck it out just long enough to grow even more infuriated with the state of our society when it came to the 'character/celebrity costume' round. Sure, I suppose there's no real harm in dressing your daughter in a racecar drivers jumpsuit and have her pretend to drive in her kid-sized plastic car as her father gently pushes it across the stage, but hasn't it gone way too far when four-year olds are sporting fake breasts and buttocks under their dresses in an effort to imitate Dolly Pardon? I wish I could say I was exaggerating, but unfortunately I am not.

But just when you thought it really couldn't get any worse, the next toddler was introduced to the sound of the theme song to the Julia Roberts film, Pretty Woman. That information alone should be enough to induce vomiting, but for those that are unaware, Pretty Woman is a movie about a prostitute and unfortunately for this young girl, the internet will immortalize her as a three-year old in a street walker's getup. Not only is her mother's decision to do this to her absolutely horrifying, but what ultimately summarizes my disgust for this show and the people that participate in such pageants, is the fact that the prostitute costume must have impressed the judges because she was crowned 'Grand Supreme' of the entire pageant, which means that she (scratch that... her mother) took home the top prize amongst all competitors of any age group.

Good luck raising her to have self-respect and dignity as she grows into adolescence and adulthood. I just hope that these girls have good school teachers so that they can learn to eventually lead respectable, dignified lifestyles in spite of their awful parents.