Whenever I see teaser clips of TLC‘s new hit show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, I can’t help but think to myself, “OK, we’ve officially hit rock bottom here, folks.” Glorifying child sexploitation, glorifying obesity, glorifying the horror of beauty show pageantry, and destroying this young girl’s future by wiring her brain in the national spotlight with the message that the more desperate you are for vanity the more America will love you (read more about how the parents of this young girl were nearly arrested for suspicion of child abuse). And if that’s not enough, The Hollywood Reporter writes that Honey Boo Boo’s ratings hit another ratings high on Wednesday night — beating coverage of the Republican National Convention:
The fourth episode of Honey Boo Boo pulled in just shy of 3 million viewers at 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnight ratings, growing 30 percent from last week’s 2.3 million haul. In the demo, Honey Boo Boo did even better. The half-hour series’ showing among adults 18-49 bested all other cable outings for the night — including coverage of the Republican National Convention — to pull a 1.3 rating. Fox News gave the show its closest competition with a 1.2 adults rating in the same time period. On the broadcast networks, Honey Boo Boo bested ABC and CBS’ demo showing for the RNC combined and topped NBC by two-tenths of a point. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, TLC’s controversial reality show about a self-proclaimed “redneck” family and their Toddlers and Tiaras daughter, hit another ratings high Wednesday night.
For the most part, I absolutely cannot stand reality television. If there is one thing I could change about the way media has evolved over the past 25 years it would be this. I’ll take the 24 hour news cycle, and I’ll even take the countless clones of LAW & ORDER and CSI. But the celebration of narcissism and self absorption that permeates every second of such fare as the “real life” of Honey Boo Boo and her disgusting redneck family — especially while America is in the midst of choosing its next leader — should be a major red flag for the United States.
I, for one, actually watched the Republican Convention last night, and even though I’m a liberal Canadian, I learned enough about Mitt Romney and his impressive life and character in a few hours that I think he might actually be exactly what America needs to get its economy back on track right now (even though I’m a gay liberal who loves Obama, I think it’s time for a businessman who knows how to use 4-wheel drive to get the U.S. economy out of quicksand).
And what did I learn when I read that 3 million Americans watched Honey Boo Boo on The “Learning” Channel (puke) while ignoring something as important as how they can turn around their economy and their nation’s future? I learned that America is on course to become exactly like Honey Boo Boo and her entire family: fat, lazy, stupid, vain, uneducated, unemployed, and a disgrace. Yes, that would be one huge boo boo.
