Don’t you wonder where our societal tastes in entertainment went wrong when Honey Boo Boo Child became the Shirley Temple of 2012?
It wasn’t enough that we tolerated no-talent drunks on Jersey Shore, but now we find even our most young and vulnerable children amusing when they act like a mess on television.
The new show “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” is the spin off to TLC’s “Toddlers & Tiaras,” featuring none other than the Honey Boo Boo Child herself.
Honey Boo Boo, aka Alana Thompson, is a little girl who shot to stardom on “Toddlers & Tiaras” with witty one liners like, “a dollar makes me holler Honey Boo Boo.”
Millions of people have tuned in to her shows to see things like Honey Boo Boo’s mother pretty much drugging her by feeding her “go-go-juice.”
The drink is a mixture of several different juices that act like a strong energy drink and make the toddler hyper-energetic, so she has the strength to perform in pageant contests.
The go-go juice aside, the toddler is regularly featured in clothing you would deem appropriate only for strippers.
She also wears more makeup during her pageants than most adult women would probably feel comfortable wearing in their everyday lives.
When did we cross the line from Shirley Temple, to Hannah Montana, to Honey Boo Boo Child high off her go-go-juice and dressed like a stripper?
Did someone slip go-go-juice into our drinks when we weren’t looking, casuing us to throw our standards of decency out the window or something?
We went from drunk Jersey adults, to sex-tape-made celebrities, to little girls who are being exploited by their parents for a buck or two.
What’s the next reality show going to be? Ultrasound footage of unborn babies getting high in utero?
There’s nothing wrong with the way Honey Boo Boo acts.
In fact, children say and do some pretty stupid things. It’s all part of childhood.
The way this girl’s parents have used her to get rich quick, however, is something that is very frightening.
This girl’s family shouldn’t be handed a reality show. They should be given a visit to from the Child Protective Services.
More importantly, shows like this shouldn’t be getting support from millions of viewers who don’t even give Honey Boo Boo’s personal life a second thought.
Honey Boo Boo is a real person.
She will grow up one day and look back at this and see that the public supported the way her parents exploited her.
This should be a red flag that we have let it get too far.
When it comes to children being used in this manner, there needs to be a loud voice in our heads screaming “not acceptable!”
If you want to watch trash entertainment, that’s completely fine.
It’s OK when adults are making asses of themselves on television, but when you help parents make money off of making asses of their children, you’re just as guilty as they are.
Jack Chavdarian is a senior journalism major and the assistant social media editor for the Daily 49er.