Depending on who you ask, reality television is the guiltiest of guilty pleasures or the eighth sign of the apocalypse. No other outlet has contributed more to that conversation than Bravo and it's newest show, "Extreme Guide to Parenting," which premieres tonight, is sure to setting tongues wagging.
Fans of the genre revel in the train wreck travails of these shows' 'stars' eliciting feeling of superiority and amusement and, of course, the gawking factor is always high. Voyeurism is the main attraction with "Extreme Parenting" and while it's hard to look away at first, the idea that these parents have co-opted their children's lives in order to showcase their inherent belief in their superior parenting styles left me feeling more than a little uncomfortable after screening several of the hour-long episodes.
Credit: Bravo/NBC Uni
Why would anyone want to allow cameras inside to witness the vagaries of modern parenting in their homes when it inevitably sets up both parents and children for ridicule?
Because, says Shari Levine, Bravo's senior vice president of current production, "The motivation of these families is that they really believe in what they're doing. They don't see it as putting their child out there, they want to help people. They're passionate about parenting."
No argument there.
That passion manifests itself in a number of 'extreme' ways in the six-episode series in which nine families showcase their best (worst?) efforts in raising their children. Bravo is calling the show a "docu-series" and each installment is a stand alone episode with self-contained stories of parents from around the country. Three episodes chronicle the lives of two families and three episodes devote the full hour to the more made-for-reality-television families.
In the premiere, a Westchester mom employs an unconventional "eco-kosher, shamanistic" method of child rearing because she believes her all-natural approach is the answer to treating her son's overactive personality while her daughter bemoans the fact that she is all but ignored. Although dad is advocating medicating the boy, mom refuses and instead opts to gives their son reiki treatments while he's doing homework and is constantly spraying everyone with various aromatherapy potions for their healing properties. Across the country in Los Angeles, a gay couple is practicing their smothering "all baby, all the time" style of parenting which basically consists of being with their three year-old daughter "24/7," videotaping prospect nannies and spending an inordinate amount of time picking through her designer wardrobe. She, of course, has no preference when asked if she'd like to wear Chloe or Marc Jacobs with her Doc Martens boots.
Marisa Silver-Eisenberg, a Long Island Tiger-mom whose "push-parenting" approach involves waking her five year-old son up every morning, immediately quizzing him on U.S presidents and withholding breakfast until he practices writing his name on a white board, told me it's her son, not her, that "is leading the way" adding, "He's the one that pushes for this." That, however, did not seem to be the case in the episode devoted to the Eisenbergs and their only child. In it, mom notes that "because it's a hard world" it's imperative that her son be pushed to be as competitive as she is. One squirm-inducing scene takes place when mother and son visit a prospective summer camp and find out children are not permitted to swim in the pool with floatation devices which the boy regularly uses. Rather than inquire about whether or not the child would be or could be given swimming lessons at the camp, mom decides on the spot that her son will go in the water withou t any safety gear. With more than a little prompting, the frightened child agrees with mom's decision. "I don't like him to show weakness," says Silver-Eisenberg on camera after the incident. She later decides to hold her own version of boot camp to prepare Austen for the rigors of summer camp for elementary schoolers.
"Twenty years from now, I'm sure Austen will be fabulous," she says. And more than likely have the therapy bills to prove it.
It's worth noting several "Extreme Parenting" participants are no strangers to the cameras. The gay couple were "The Guncles" to Tori Spelling's brood on "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood" (and one dad is a former casting director). Silver-Eisenberg hosts a fitness program on Long Island Cablevision. Her son has done television commercials and appears in Anne Hathaway's upcoming film, "The Intern." Although Levine is adamant that Bravo does not script their reality series, I'm not so sure these two families didn't do their fair share of rehearsing on their own in preparation for their big television debut. And it shows.
While Levine says otherwise, I suspect the idea that this show may lead to reality show stardom or open other doors in entertainment proved just as enticing to the participants as the opportunity to showcase their unique parenting styles.
Despite whatever best intentions have may motivated all the parents in the series to open up their homes to Bravo's cameras, the end result is, at the very least, a bit unsettling and, in some instances, downright disturbing. In the first episode, when the camera was inches away from an older child documenting his meltdown without his parents in the shot, I found myself wondering if his on-screen behavior and scenes of coddling by his mother could potentially subject him to bullying by his peers who see the show.
No doubt the opportunity to judge other people's parenting nightmares (while offering some reassurance about one's own) may prove irresistible to some. After all, the "Real Housewives" franchise is starting to show its age and the idea of moving on to the next generation of (very) young stars may give producers a new and potentially profitable arena to explore. But at what cost?
"I don't want to be a normal family," proclaims one devoted dad to his partner. Mission accomplished.
Will you watch? What's your take on parents allowing children to be filmed for reality television? Would you let cameras document your family life? Let me know in Comments. Thanks!
0 comments:
Post a Comment