Who the heck is Honey Boo Boo and why has she taken over my television? An even better question is why should I even know (or care for that matter) about Honey Boo Boo? The best I can figure, having thankfully never been forced to endure an entire episode of the curiously bizarre TV series, is that Honey Boo Boo has her own television show simply so the viewing public can poke fun at her illiterate family.
To what level have we, the consummate couch potatoes - unable to pry our eyes away from high definition idiocracy - sunk? Have we become addicted to Reality TV? Let’s briefly explore that concept. Reality TV. Is it really reality? It all started with Survivor. How many times have you been stranded on an island with a bunch of people you have never met? Or even with a bunch of folks you know intimately enough to hang out with, 24 hours a day, wearing not much more than your team bandana? Thankfully, I have managed to keep myself free from either annoying circumstance.
How about Big Brother? Locked up in a house with several people you hope to stab in the back, one at a time, without them actually knowing it was you (wait, that does sound like reality), so they will have to leave the house. Heck, if it were me, I’d be looking for the door to let myself out after about 15 minutes of confinement with most of those idiots.
In this not so in-depth analysis of the strange viewing habits of American TV watchers, we surely can’t leave out The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Do these people really think that in the span of filming a few episodes they are going to find their soul mate, fall in love and live happily ever after? Seriously? The track record of the show would prove otherwise. Oh, and just who is the brainiac who came up with the concept of overnight dates, or sex tryouts as I prefer to call them, on TV anyway? And that is a good idea, why? At least occasionally, a participant will admit that the only reason he or she is on the show is to promote their fledgling TV career. Hats off to them for being honest. Not that it makes me want to watch, but at least someone was honest.
Which brings me back to Honey Boo Boo. Do you think how they are depicted on the show is really the way her family acts every day? If that is truly the case, Honey Boo Boo is one of the few true reality shows. Scary isn’t it.
Then again, there is Hillbilly Handfishin’.