If we're not taking off someone's unsightly fat or tearing down and rebuilding their house, we're sticking a camera in their face and documenting their every move. "Oh what a shame." "Oh poor guy." "Makes me grateful for the life I have."
It seems everything gracing the television screen these days is in need of help.
And it sells! We love to watch others overcoming odds. Americans can't get enough of the heartwarming sob-fests that have taken over televison. Extreme Home Makeover is raking in millions every week for doing a good deed. It's easy to fall in love with the host, Ty's, ADHD charm, the weeping, the crying. And, we're part of the action. We saw their lives change for the better.
When some people cannot be helped so dramatically like on Extreme Home Makeover, we find thrill in watching them try and function.
TLC is notorious for "oh how do they manage" documentary style shows. From Jon & Kate plus Eight to their sporadic specials like Tree Man or The Littlest People in the World or The World's Heaviest Man, TLC finds a way to incorporate modern day circus-like curiosity into cable television. We admire their will to live and how they function so unlike the norm.
It seems everything gracing the television screen these days is in need of help.
And it sells! We love to watch others overcoming odds. Americans can't get enough of the heartwarming sob-fests that have taken over televison. Extreme Home Makeover is raking in millions every week for doing a good deed. It's easy to fall in love with the host, Ty's, ADHD charm, the weeping, the crying. And, we're part of the action. We saw their lives change for the better.
When some people cannot be helped so dramatically like on Extreme Home Makeover, we find thrill in watching them try and function.
TLC is notorious for "oh how do they manage" documentary style shows. From Jon & Kate plus Eight to their sporadic specials like Tree Man or The Littlest People in the World or The World's Heaviest Man, TLC finds a way to incorporate modern day circus-like curiosity into cable television. We admire their will to live and how they function so unlike the norm.But why is it so interesting? Does our society find it exciting to document lives unlike ours--or bring them into the circle of normality?
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