{"id":170,"date":"2008-12-11T23:01:58","date_gmt":"2008-12-12T06:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=170"},"modified":"2008-12-11T23:01:58","modified_gmt":"2008-12-12T06:01:58","slug":"cause-everybody-hates-a-tourist-especially-one-who-thinks-its-all-such-a-laugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=170","title":{"rendered":"“‘Cause everybody hates a tourist, especially one who thinks it’s all such a laugh”"},"content":{"rendered":"

So in my occasional reality TV binging, I stumbled across a monstrosity. It\u2019s on Fox (surprise!). It\u2019s called Secret Millionaire and it makes me genuinely uncomfortable to watch. Of course I plan to use it in my classroom!<\/p>\n

The premise is simple: get rich, privileged folk to mingle with those in \u201cextreme poverty\u201d for a week and then give to those individuals that they feel are most in need. Here are the actual lines displayed at the beginning of each episode with a couple of quotes from one episode:<\/p>\n

For one week So and So will live undercover in poverty.<\/p>\n

They will leave their possessions and identities at home.<\/p>\n

People will be told that So and So are involved in a documentary about poverty.
\nThey will have to survive on a welfare budget of $107.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really nervous about the story I\u2019m going to tell people because it\u2019s not true. I am a multi-millionaire trying to pose as an average Joe.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI guess my biggest fear is about safety.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the \u201cscary\u201d and the \u201csad\u201d music that\u2019s played when these millionaires first visit their temporary new homes. Maybe it\u2019s the way that the poor are a sob story and two or three families become aw-shucks-feet-washing-idolaters for deceitful benefactors with open checkbooks. Maybe it\u2019s the horrendous, stereotypical formula of the ghettoized neighborhood that reveals a few beautiful gems that deserve reward.<\/p>\n

Part of why I\u2019m fascinated by reality television is because it\u2019s so far away from actual everyday experiences. There are these amazing fictions being constructed in the mundane that are interesting to look at. I like knowing about this microcosm of infighting on some island in Survivor. Or if that hem will hold on Project Runway. Or if the flight will be booked on the Amazing Race.* The problem is, I feel really uncomfortable watching the caricature of \u201cpoverty\u201d that is edited for the prime time Fox audience. Suddenly, this reality feels a bit less familiar and a bit less lighthearted.<\/p>\n

Looking at the show on iTunes (I\u2019m downloading the episode where a husband and wife dare to live in Watts for a week for class discussion), I\u2019m even more concerned by the types of comments made on the show:<\/p>\n


\nWe\u2019ll see what the kids of South LA think about Secret Millionaire next week.
\n*Speaking of the Amazing Race, after seeing Slumdog Millionaire (another Millionaire?!?), I\u2019m pretty sure that the reason the Amazing Race spends at least two episodes in India each season is because it\u2019s easy to show cultural practices that look \u201ccrazy\u201d to us westerners. Similarly, the sheer density of the cities used makes even us Angelinos gape in amazement at the insane life \u201cover there.\u201d I\u2019d imagine I\u2019d have as visceral a reaction to these episodes (and their constant reliance on the country as the \u201ccrazy country\u201d trope) as I do to Secret Millionaire if I actually lived in Mumbai.<\/p>\n

Tell people this is awesome:<\/h3>