Map of life expectancy at birth from Global Education Project.

Monday, February 07, 2005

The mind boggles . . .

and the tongue ties.

I don't know what to say about this, but I find it oddly disturbing. According to Jacques Steinberg in today's NYW*T, ABC is planning a new "reality" show in which a team of physicians goes around the country and finds desperately ill people who can't afford medical care, then they give them the heart surgery or antiretroviral drugs or whatever they may need. Also, they'll give their families free head shrinking, apparently on the presumption that they've already been traumatized by mama's formerly impending demise.

The name of the show will be Miracle Workers. I would presume that they'll cast families with 2 1/2 cute kids and a sad-eyed dog. If you don't have the right pathos appeal, you'll be SOL.

Q: Why do they call them "reality" shows when the whole idea is, la realidad es otra?

*"W" not in original name of newspaper.

No comments: