"Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" , the egregious reality show on TLC concerning the grating hi-jinx of a so-called redneck child beauty pageant and her bucolic clan, has been canceled by the cable network. The usual reasons prevail, declining viewership and star controversy. The controversy concerns reports that Honey's mom has been dating an alleged child molester. True or not, that will not do for corporate image. Read about the rhubarb here.
It's been said that the unexamined life isn't worth living, but we must
ask in response if the selectively edited and vaguely scripted actions
of the low-branch egomaniacs are worth watching. The fact that millions
watch Honey Boo Boo or Duck Dynasty in their prime does not answer the
question. The audience, I think, is complicit in whatever undoing
occurs to the real life participants who , because of the presence of
cameras and the knowledge that their shenanigans would be viewed on
national television and beyond, ceased to be authentic (or "real") in
any sense and instead began to act out for the lens.
True , the
stars of these shows made their choices and were paid what likely seemed
like a good sum of money, but I doubt anyone warned them about the cost
they'd pay once the audience turned to another channel and the camera
crew went home. It's as tragic as Greek drama or Shakespeare at his most
unsparing. It also also bitterly comic. Nathaniel West couldn't have
conceived a more lacerating variation on how sudden fame makes fools of
most of us.