MTV to further Exploit Working Class Americans
"Trailer Fabulous" crosses the Line
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Well, I should've known somebody would make it happen. Why exploit the middle class with reality television? After all, the American Middle Class is disappearing anyway. There are just so many poor folks to make fun of these days anyway...
Apparently, MTV execs finally took the game to a whole new level, and the network's spin doctors are already gearing up for the backlash.
"We like to reflect all areas of our viewers and their lives," Executive Producer Tony DiSanto, as quoted by CNN, said. "There is a large portion of our viewers that live in trailers and in trailer parks across the country."
DiSanto has never lived in a trailer. As a matter of fact, only about 8% of the American population lives in mobile homes, according to the last U.S. Census. Mobile homes offer an affordable, warm place to live for millions of Americans, yet has never represented a particularly attractive consumer demographic, namely because of the lower income base associated with "trailer park" living.
So is MTV claiming that its largest demographic group lives in mobile homes? Or is there something more sinister at work here?
Sinisterly corporate is probably more appropriate.
The show's producers are already on the defensive, claiming they're only catching the humor inherent to life in a trailer park. Yeah. Sure.
And I maybe those guys marketing the "Dukes of Hazzard" flick aren't thinking about those trucker-hat hungry suburban kids whodress poor without that pesky "no money" problem.
I don't know what pisses me off more - rich kids that think poverty is somehow cool or the corporations that exploit "trailer chic" as a way to capitalize on that same demographic's fantasy land.
I have a new kind of reality show in mind.
How about "Viacom Execs Visit Church Hill," where the ol' Zenfo Pro takes these suits down for a night on the town in Richmond, Virginia's "murder row," one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in America. We can cut down East Broad, and I'll even throw in some kevlar. The objective - last one to get shanked during an armed robbery wins.
Or how about "Pimp my Gated Community," where the wealthiest 1% of the American population turn over multimillion dollar estates to the poor folks and have to spend the night in an honest-to-god housing project, Parkview Gardens, in my hometown, complete with the minimal security and safety enjoyed by the nation's poorest. Imagine the entertainment value of little Janie Suburbia wearing a $90 "vintage" tee-shirt while having to eat courtesy of a school's free-lunch program. (Sorry, no Taco Bells in the cafeteria, just the Grade C roast beef and instant mashed potatoes.)
Better yet, how about "Real World: Sudan." Seven total strangers picked to live in Darfur and have their lives and subsequent struggles to simply survive taped for entertainment purposes.
MTV's "Trailer Fabulous" is blatantly exploitive, no matter how they choose to spin it. When network folks go on the defensive even before a show airs obviously know they are exploiting but want to minimize the potential backlash.
CNN COVERAGE:
CNN.com - The anti-home makeover show, sort of - Aug 3, 2005
The ZenFo Pro : 7:35 PM
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Tales of Ordinary Madness :
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