Comments on: ‘Kid Nation’ kills its audience (read on for status of the chicken) http://www.ibabuzz.com/aparentlyspeaking/2007/09/26/kid-nation-kills-its-audience-read-on-for-status-of-the-chicken/ From diapers to diplomas, an irreverent, practical guide to all things parenting Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:18:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: chris kid http://www.ibabuzz.com/aparentlyspeaking/2007/09/26/kid-nation-kills-its-audience-read-on-for-status-of-the-chicken/comment-page-1/#comment-56 chris kid Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:05:38 +0000 http://www.ibabuzz.com/aparentlyspeaking/2007/09/26/kid-nation-kills-its-audience-read-on-for-status-of-the-chicken/#comment-56 i think you both are missing the message here. this is not an ‘adult’ survivor show. kid nation’s young people are making adult decisions and actually getting along pretty well considering they all probably miss their families. yes, they might be motivated by the potential to earn the gold star but isn’t that society as a whole? reward for a job well done? the only recent person i know that seemed to do good deeds from their heart and not the their wallet was mother theresa and there aren’t very many of her kind around these days. i say lighten up, the kids are probably away from their families and in front of the cameras for the first time in their short lives. watch the show and see the amazing personalities devolop (hello? jared from florida? what a character!) as they figure out how to get along with each other and run a town with their own intelligence and ingenunity.

]]> By: Ari http://www.ibabuzz.com/aparentlyspeaking/2007/09/26/kid-nation-kills-its-audience-read-on-for-status-of-the-chicken/comment-page-1/#comment-55 Ari Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:49:17 +0000 http://www.ibabuzz.com/aparentlyspeaking/2007/09/26/kid-nation-kills-its-audience-read-on-for-status-of-the-chicken/#comment-55 Great comments, AMP. It does feel contrived. Jonathan Whatsisname (the adult) is getting way too much screen time. I wish he’d go away.

]]> By: AMP http://www.ibabuzz.com/aparentlyspeaking/2007/09/26/kid-nation-kills-its-audience-read-on-for-status-of-the-chicken/comment-page-1/#comment-54 AMP Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:46:54 +0000 http://www.ibabuzz.com/aparentlyspeaking/2007/09/26/kid-nation-kills-its-audience-read-on-for-status-of-the-chicken/#comment-54 Maybe the word you’re looking for is too melodramatic. We’ve all seen our kids experience their minor meltdowns. Now we get to see it 40-fold. Up until now, the kids have rallied around each other when one was upset. Last night, we saw how they were starting to turn on Emilie (though her chicken standoff lacked genuine punch). The reality of this being a reality “game” show came to a head when Emilie decided to stay — “When my mom told me to come, she told me to be a bucking cow girl.” Her mom TOLD her to come. No wonder the kid felt compelled to stay despite the chicken beheading.

Which brings us back to the gold star. Hello, you expect us to believe these kids — even someone as motivational as Michael (who frankly is starting to sound too preachy) — are working their butts off for the greater good of society. Come on! It’s about the money. Suddenly the educational value of these kids actually learning something is smothered by simple greed.

The show is really starting to show its true colors, in that regard and these so called “show-downs.” How much of a beating can one team take? The green team is back to scrubbing toilets and this time couldn’t even win the town a reward. Sure, the other kids tried to make them feel better. But the whole thing felt contrived. Even Michael’s “emotional” phone call to his mom was painful to watch considering the stiffness of both as we, the audience, got to peer in.

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