Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Amazing Race Family Edition

I am a big fan of the Amazing Race. It's a great show. But I've been less then excited about this latest family version which premieres tonight. I wasn't sure exactly why until I was showering this morning and it became clear to me. (Who doesn't do their best thinking in the shower, I ask you?) There are little kids on the race (the youngest is eight). Now this seems obvious: kids ruin the race, right? I think I knew that from the first moment I heard about it, but I couldn't put into words why kids are going to mess things up. And then, in the shower, I pictured the scenario where the family is trying complete a Detour (a choice between two tasks, both of which have pros and cons) and one of the kids says "I don't want to play anymore." He's done and he wants to go home. What the parents do at that moment shouldn't be on TV because one of three things happen:

1) They yell at the kid to get him to complete the task
2) They manipulate the kid to get him to complete the task
3) They acquiese to the kid's request and the game is over for that family

As a parent, numbers one and two really bother me and I don't want to watch that on TV. Number three makes for bad TV. With a million dollars at stake, I think there's a decent chance we'll see numbers 1 or 2 at some point during the race.

I suppose there is a 4th option. They talk to the kid, figure out why he or she wants to be done, and work out a compromise that makes the kid happy and allows the family to continue with the race. If I were in that situation, that's what I do (I hope). But if there is no compromise to be reached, then as a parent, you have to put the kid's needs ahead of the game. With a million dollars at stake, that's a lot harder than it would be normally. Especially when you start justifying pushing the kid by thinking about how much better the kid's life would be if you won the million.

It just seems to me they're going down a bad road here. The parents are exposing their kids to what could be a very unforgiving audience.

I will watch to see if my fears are justified, but the remote is in hand and I will shut it off.

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Name: Matt
Location: Coralville, IA
I am a Dad and a Husband. An Actor. An Administrator. A Hiker. A Writer. Probably a bunch of other things too. Read my blog and you'll find out more.
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