Sweeps week is coming, and as the major networks prepare to battle it out for that elusive three hours of television the average American takes in daily, viewers can expect programming that pushes the limits in a search for high ratings by any means necessary.
Because the nightly reality show parade has become pass?(c) - but not yet pass?(c) enough for said networks to feign an attempt at originality - many network executives will try to shock viewers into their seats between season finales and celebrity guest stars.
I have become as tired of the reality TV deluge as the next guy, but recent offerings have crossed the line. The shows that previously discouraged viewers from watching because of their lack of creativity, have now become a discouraging commentary on the state of American culture.
The first time I saw an advertisement for "Extreme Makeover," the pioneer series in this new programming genre, I was shocked. I assumed that public backlash would make quick work of such clearly offensive material, but I was wrong.
Even worse is Fox's series "The Swan," the latest entry in the blatantly twisted series of makeover shows, where makeup and hair straightener have been replaced with bone saws and surgical steel liposuction needles.
The producers of these shows never really attempt to conceal the fact that they have no concern for their guests. Sitting on my couch watching the tragedy unfold, they introduce 23-year-old Kristy, an ex-Army mom from California.
The host of the show, Amanda Byram, introduces Kristy as a young woman who has "a lost soul in the world of make-up and fashion and doesn't go out much because she doesn't know what to wear or what to do with her hair."
Then, they proceed to "fix" her, performing a nose job, brow lift, laser face treatment, lip augmentation, mid-face lift, breast augmentation, dental bleaching and veneers, and seven separate liposuction procedures.
Certainly there is nothing wrong with this scene. After all, the show claims to help women "prepare to battle their inner demons as well as each other for a chance to become 'The Swan.'"
They receive approximately six weeks of self-esteem therapy, which is no doubt enough to treat a lifetime of rejection, insecurity and self-doubt, right?
The idea of a high-priced quick fix for such serious internal problems is nothing more than a glossy veneer. It's akin to slathering a fresh coat of paint on a cabin riddled with termite damage and then claiming to be Bob Vila.
This show is sending a false message, and unfortunately it's sending it loud and clear to millions of viewers each week. "The Swan," and other shows like it, are only augmenting the superficial aspect of our culture's mentality. This show is essentially telling the contestants that they cannot be beautiful as they are, and that being beautiful is the only way to be truly happy.
This has an effect on the show's viewers as well. The official "The Swan" message board, hosted by Fox.com, is filled with hundreds of messages from women who feel that this is their only chance at being happy.
Although many of the messages are quite disheartening, and confirm the very problem which the show hopes to exploit, at the same time, the message board is also an intriguing forum for passionate conversation on a serious topic, both from the show's fans and its detractors.
In all of the back and forth messages, with titles such as "It would be my dream come true..." and "This show is the embodiment of all evil," discussion does eventually get to the heart of the issue - the fact that the show pays no attention whatsoever to the people themselves.
This sends a clear and horrible message not only to the guests, but also to the viewers, that who you are makes no difference as long as you look the part. Every week, this message reaches millions of homes, and slowly works its way into the minds of the viewers.
The most macabre scene in the show is the "unveiling." Throughout the entire process, the contestants are not shown their own faces. Then, accompanied by gaudy scenery and dramatic background music, a curtain is pulled back, and a full-length mirror reveals the transformation, and the guests usually proceed to go into a mild state of shock.
"Now it's Cristina's turn. She enters the room and... Wow! The curtain parts and... she can't believe it! 'I'm so beautiful!' She thanks the experts and God and everyone in the room. By the way, she loves the dress. She came for the American Dream, and she got it."
The feelings I had while watching the unveiling are on par with the first time I watched "A Clockwork Orange." Reading the excerpts from Fox's Web site, those feelings quickly returned. With the phrase "She came for the American Dream, and she got it." I cursed out loud at my computer screen. I was simply that offended.
Worse yet, at the end of the show - once both women have met themselves again for the first time - they are judged, and one woman is selected to participate in the season finale, a beauty pageant. The other is tossed aside, her newfound "confidence" crushed more quickly and completely than before, sent home because she still wasn't pretty enough.
It is upsetting to think about what effect media messages like this could have on the younger generation. Television has become America's babysitter, and a constant bombardment of messages like this could give many impressionable young people the idea that one's hair, teeth and thighs are more important than personality, morals and character.
Sadly, television is often an accurate barometer for our country's collective consciousness. "The Swan," as well as similar titles such as "Extreme Makeover" and MTV's "I Want a Famous Face," show what a truly frightening impact the superficiality of Hollywood can have on the American ideal. Maybe the farfetched premise of the show isn't so far off base after all.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
