The biggest plus of the season is that it introduced the Hutterites to America in which few people knew existed before the show started. Most of the true learning is what we learned online and the books we read, not from the show.
However, the bad part of the show is that the show did not show the Hutterites in it's true light. The producers and actors tried to make the Hutterites from King Colony as your typical family(s) who drink, swear, steal, disrespect, take credit for something they did not do, lie, poison, break the laws of man, break the rules of the Hutterite religion, give false impressions, fighting and so much more.
The Hutterie religion prides itself for being different. They dress different, they live differently, they talk different, their education and they have different values. Not everyone could be a Hutterite, even if a Colony accepted them because of their high standards,.but the producers tried their very best to try and shown as normal, everyday kids and young adults. They are not and that is why they are "Outliers".
But it's not just me saying that this show was a farce, other, real Hutterites, including King Colony's Bishop said the show was a farce: "We are deeply disappointed with the National Geographic Channel's depiction of the Hutterite people in their so-called reality series, 'American Colony: Meet The Hutterites,' filmed at the King Ranch Hutterite Colony in Montana. It's unfortunate that Jeff Collins and his production team chose to come through the back door rather than the proper channels to receive permission to film our people."...
"What was promised by the producers to be a 'factual documentary' is, in fact, a distorted and exploitative version of Hutterite life that paints all 50,000 Hutterites in North America in a negative and inaccurate way. Scenes and dialogue were contrived resulting in a 'make believe' depiction of how we live and the spiritual beliefs we cherish," the statement continued. http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2012/07/real-hutterites-on-american-colony-meet.html
Obviously, the show had reenactments on the show and while these segments were poorly done, they still insulted the vast majority of Hutterites.
But there several areas that got me upset about the show- they totally disregarded Hutterite customs, for one.
The men are not allowed to have facial hair if they are not married and if they are married, they may not have mustache hair. The women are also not allowed to have wedding bands. Marriage is very sacred to the Hutterites, so much so, they do not allow divorces, so to see the King Colony flaunt these long held customs is maddening. Further, the lack of religion in the show is troubling. Everything they do on the Colony is about God and yet it is rarely mentioned. It's like the producers didn't want to insult the audience with too much Christian religion.
Of course, the money issues were completely misleading to the average viewer. But in a Hutterite Colony, all the money is the colonies, not the individual. But yet, Claudia supposedly got a job to get a cell phone, Bertha got a haircut, Claudia going to college, etc. In Hutterite society, it truly is "what yours is mine and what mine is yours".
It also made me frustrated with all the lies they made up just to make themselves more important. When Claudia claimed she was an EMT, when the guys said they were registered firefighters, to lying about making the beds, the hunting scenes and so much more. Lying and disrespect of elders and family was common and yet if that happened in real life, it would have dealt with the by the elders.and it would not have been pretty.
And the ever famous jerky scene when one of the guys supposedly sprayed another's with air freshener even though it was cooking spray. Attempted poisoning, I am sure it is against the law and against the values of Hutterites who are also not supposed to be competitive because they are pacifists.
And speaking of pacifism, how about all that fighting during the season, both verbal and physical. Way to show the Hutterite values of pacifism, another main tenant of the Hutterite religion.
I can go on. Yes, of course, it is a TV show and only a show. But this is also a show that is run by the National Geographic Channel, not Bravo. This isn't the Jerry Spring Show, it is a show about a religious sect. We were promised by the producers an accurate portrayal of the Hutterites and all we got was a dysfunctional family worthy of being of the most dysfunctional families in TV history, rivaling the Bundy's on Married With Children.
No comments:
Post a Comment