Spring Break
The Epinion: 'Lord of The Flies' goes live
by Mike Epstein
Arts | 9/25/07
Posted online at 9:50 PM EST on 9/24/07
On the surface, the premise behind CBS' new reality show, Kid Nation, might look somewhat like an educational social experiment. The show follows 40 kids between the ages of eight and 15 who have been left in a ghost town in the New Mexico desert for 40 days. Their task: to rebuild the town and produce a working society without adult leadership. The children were left unsupervised for stretches of several days at a time, forcing them to cook their own food and keep themselves clean, warm and dry.
But don't be fooled: Such an ordeal is no deeper or more intellectually stimulating than typical reality television.
If you think this show is a bad idea, you're not alone. CBS is under federal investigation regarding whether what was asked of these children could be constituted as child labor. Before jumping to the conclusion that the big bad network put little kids in harms way, however, we should look and see if Kid Nation is actually as provocative as its reality producer, Tom Forman, wants us to think it is. Kid Nation has all the hallmarks of a typically melodramatic reality show, rather than a "groundbreaking social experiment." After watching, we can see that while these kids were in a tough situation, it's clear that many variables in the experiment were being controlled.
Ironically, while the show is based on the values of cooperation and hard work, its structure promotes contention amongst the cast members. Rather than letting the kids naturally organize a chain of command, they are told upon entering the town that four of them have already been chosen as the "town council." In the opening sequence, after the majority of the contestants arrive by bus, the town council is flown in by helicopter. What better way to promote overconfidence and zeal than to give a 10-year-old a grand entrance on a helicopter?
Also, the producers organized the kids into an economic hierarchy. They were split into four groups, and based on western-themed Surivoresque challenges, were given different jobs and different amounts of money that they could have used on luxury items like soda, candy and toys. Rather than attempting to instill the idea that the people who work the hardest make the most money, however, the producers chose to exploit the worst aspects of American capitalism. The kids who came in last became laborers, doing the cleaning and heavy lifting, while the group that came in first is deemed the "upper class," who aren't assigned a job. Of course, the upper class is paid the most, while the laborers are paid the least. It took less than a day for a fight to break out. I have never seen a better argument against capitalism.
But don't be fooled: Such an ordeal is no deeper or more intellectually stimulating than typical reality television.
If you think this show is a bad idea, you're not alone. CBS is under federal investigation regarding whether what was asked of these children could be constituted as child labor. Before jumping to the conclusion that the big bad network put little kids in harms way, however, we should look and see if Kid Nation is actually as provocative as its reality producer, Tom Forman, wants us to think it is. Kid Nation has all the hallmarks of a typically melodramatic reality show, rather than a "groundbreaking social experiment." After watching, we can see that while these kids were in a tough situation, it's clear that many variables in the experiment were being controlled.
Ironically, while the show is based on the values of cooperation and hard work, its structure promotes contention amongst the cast members. Rather than letting the kids naturally organize a chain of command, they are told upon entering the town that four of them have already been chosen as the "town council." In the opening sequence, after the majority of the contestants arrive by bus, the town council is flown in by helicopter. What better way to promote overconfidence and zeal than to give a 10-year-old a grand entrance on a helicopter?
Also, the producers organized the kids into an economic hierarchy. They were split into four groups, and based on western-themed Surivoresque challenges, were given different jobs and different amounts of money that they could have used on luxury items like soda, candy and toys. Rather than attempting to instill the idea that the people who work the hardest make the most money, however, the producers chose to exploit the worst aspects of American capitalism. The kids who came in last became laborers, doing the cleaning and heavy lifting, while the group that came in first is deemed the "upper class," who aren't assigned a job. Of course, the upper class is paid the most, while the laborers are paid the least. It took less than a day for a fight to break out. I have never seen a better argument against capitalism.
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