Why I Detest (Most) Reality TV

Last month, the "30 Days" people sent out a casting call for "a young feminist who describes herself as pro-choice" to spend thirty days in a Christian maternity home. (For extra laughs, read some of the oh-so-tolerant responses from the Feministing commenters!) AfterAbortion first commented on the show in this post:

They have found a woman for this job. Her name is Jennifer, and she comes from Georgia. According to our sources, she is moving into the maternity home today. (That means she'll be living with several women who chose not to abort, in spite of difficult life circumstances.)

The casting call doesn't say this, but there's more involved for Jennifer than living in a maternity home. She will also be asked to hang around with some people who survived an abortion and attend one or more sessions of a Christian post-abortion recovery program.

Stacy Massey of the Abortion Recovery International Network was approached for this purpose, and will be working with the Actual Reality producers. That should be a challenging and interesting opportunity for all concerned.

We'll be keeping you posted.

Some of the AfterAbortion commenters expressed their concerns that the show might be nothing more than thinly-veiled propaganda, and specifically that Stacy Massey was setting herself (and ARIN, and post-abortion recovery in general) up to be humiliated and/or abused. These comments prompted a response from Ms. Massey:

Thank you for your thoughts, both positive and constructive. Believe me, I had every one of the same considerations before agreeing to even "meet" with the producers, let alone be a part of this reality/documentary. We've had hundreds of people praying, as you can assume... and will need hundreds more, as I'm sure there is NO way I can micro-manage this production, nor have any guarantee of its final outcome. However, because of how I was contacted, doors opened, etc., we believe God is truly asking us to step up to this challenge. And as Ann Marie told me on the phone... God equips the un-able! So I'm sure He'll "have my back" as my 18-year old son says.

Please read Stacy's entire response. I'll wait here until you're done.

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Clearly, Ms. Massey knew that she was stepping into a potential hornets' nest, but she felt a clear leading from God to do so. I won't dispute that. God will often call us to place ourselves into vulnerable situations for the sake of doing His will. That's one of the lessons of the Cross.

Fast-forward a week, and we get an update from the show's filming:

Pastor "John Doe" has a film crew at [home for unwed moms]. They are filming for the show 30 DAYS reality TV shown on [F/X] cable (supposedly, this show is very popular with young viewers). A pro-choice young lady has moved in the home and the film crew is following her around to her appointments and daily living situations. This young woman is a professional abortion counselor and doesn't believe in God.

The film crew has also gone out to film the sidewalk counseling that Pastor [Doe] and his counselors perform on an almost daily basis. And he was sucker punched by an irate husband bring his wife for an abortion. All of this right in front of the cameras.

Yeah, they're getting some conflict for their show.

This morning, we get another update:

Evidently "Jennifer" [the "inserted," pro-choice woman] is from Georgia, not Texas, and works for FPA [Annie' note: not sure what this is]. According to the center's Director she's quite versed in her statistics regarding abortion, fetal development, complications, post-abortion stress/trauma.

[Annie's note: I'd love to call her on all that, to see if it's the truth or rather what she thinks she knows is truth.]

The Director said she felt quite unprepared to handle the phone call that ironically came while Jennifer was in the center. Jennifer admitted to the camera of having a friend call the center while Jennifer was there, just so Jennifer could "correct" the PRC Director on tape. Hope her admission escapes the cutting room floor, and makes it into the final presentation. How pathetic does she look?

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A perceptive reader will note that so far all of the dirty tricks & such are coming from Jennifer, not from the show's producers. It is still possible that the final result will be an honest documentary, not a dishonest smear job. At this time, there is no sign that the producers themselves are doing anything shady.

That said....

My instincts are telling me that this story won't end well. Perhaps Jennifer will experience some sort of epiphany about how pro-lifers aren't the horrible people that her pro-choice upbringing has led her to expect. Perhaps this show will be the first honest MSM portrayal of CPCs, pregnancy resource centers, and sidewalk counsellors. Perhaps America will finally get to see a glimmer of the hatred and prejudice that drives many pro-choice activists.

Or ... perhaps this show will be yet another installment of "All Pro-Lifers Are Ignorant Hayseeds" ... which is one of the longest-running threads in modern journalism. However, more important than that is my concern that this show will be used to trivialize abortion recovery, which would be a grave insult to the suffering of millions of post-abortive women.

Let's be hopeful, right? Meanwhile, please keep any & all political commentary on this blog or on my blog, but not on the the AfterAbortion blog. Emily & Annie are doing their best to make that blog a safe place for post-abortive help. Let's respect their wishes and keep the politics away, okay?

(cross-posted to Naaman the Ex-Leper)

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Addendum: I almost titled this post "Why I Detest All Reality TV," but that wouldn't have been strictly honest. There is one reality show that I enjoy. Go, Taylor!

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UPDATE 3/29/2006: Patricia Beninato visited my comments to let me know that the 30 Days crew also sent their casting call to her:

Also causing a more recent stir is the e-mail I got from the casting director for 30 Days, the FX reality show created by Morgan Spurlock, director of McDonald's worst nightmare Super Size Me. Apparently the show wants to do an episode where a pro-choice feminist lives in a unwed mothers' home (those places still exist?) for the titular 30 days. In the past, the show has had homophobes living with gays and Christians living among Muslims. I'm not quite sure where Spurlock wants to go with this one. Many INS friends have opined that it would be more dramatic if an anti-choicer worked at a clinic, but since the show's premise is people actually living with those of an opposite persuasion that'd be a little hard to do. Spurlock is of a liberal bent and I'm sure his intentions are good, but then you know what's said about good intentions. It also seems like the casting director Googled "pro-choice" and spammed whatever sites came up, as I've heard reports from several NARAL chapters that he contacted them as well. The show is interesting (I saw the "gay" episode and thought it really innovative), so I'd like to see how this particular set-up turns out. If you're interested, I can forward you the information.

Note for context: Patricia Beninato is the webmistress of I'm Not Sorry, a vehemently pro-choice website.