Monday, October 29, 2007

Move That Bus!

Last night I watched this show.

Tod walked in. I wanted to change the channel but it was too late. I had been sniffing and tearing up over this Navajo family. Their trailer had no indoor plumbing, they had tires on the roof so it wouldn't blow away. IN FACT, Garrett, the 16 year old son, built this junky heating device to heat the trailer and keep his sister's asthma at bay. They call him the Junkyard Genius. I'm explaining it all to Tod and he laughs. He laughs at the Navajo family and laughs at Garrett's invention.

I tell him: He won an award for it.

He says: He was the only one in the competition.

I explain: Tod, they had no heat or plumbing.

He replies: Yeah, so now they'll trash this house and everyone in the village will resent them.

I correct him: It's NOT a village...it's a reservation.

Him: Same difference.
Tod also has a major issue with this guy:
I tried to explain to Tod that this new house is a new beginning for the family. He insists that they will not take care of it, still live like animals and their power bill will go through the roof. Tod also believes Ty Pennington is an alcoholic who is maybe also addicted to cocaine.

Tod's idea...Extreme Home Makeover: Where are they now? He wants to prove his point by following up with these families. How does the house look? Is the cancer gone? Is Mom still in a wheelchair? His theory is that the new house only created more problems. Is he right?
Tod asks the huge question: If this show makes people so happy, why is Ty Pennington so sad, deep inside? Crying clown?
So the show ended and Tod pointed out the family seemed to be "fake crying." Basically ruining any warm feelings I experienced before he walked into the room.
Tod's final quote, "You can take the boy out of the hood, but you can't take the hood out of the boy." The end.

10 comments:

MediocreMama said...

CORRECTION: my lauging had nothing to do w/ them being navajo or having tires on their roof! i think the show is rediculous how it victimizes people that are down on their luck in the search of ratings...now you have this big freaking mansion in the middle of no where that sticks out like a sore thumb that only one person in the whole town can enjoy. that has resentment & persecution written all over it! do you think they were the only ones that lived in a trailer or had tires on the roof? try making a real friend at school after that..."oh your the one that lives in that 'house'..." after the bus leaves--i picture the family coming down from their ty pennington sugar-high & having a huge empty feeling as they sit in their new oversized palace silently stairing at each other across the livingroom so far away that they can't even tell if mom is sitting on the new buck skin couch or in her wheelchair, kind of missing how things used to be...

MediocreMama said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Very good post, I like the social questions. Truthfully this show drives mr crazy. I thibk it is super nice of them all to build a nice big mansion in seven days for the less fortunate but all the crying and Ty's "special project
" always being the master bedroom. I agree with Tod a bit on this one. I want to know, who pays that enormus power and gas bill? does the show hire a cleaning lady and gardner to take care of the monster of a house? where are they now really? can they sell the house and take the money? i would like some answers.

Karen said...

Oh this is just great...now they'll never accept my application. GEEZ you guys...give a girl a break...

MediocreMama said...

I agree that Ty's "special room" is extremely unnecessary. Mom, they would never accept your application unless you or Dad do some serious damage to yourselves. If either of you goes blind, we'll make the video and send it in. Or if you contract AIDS. They love AIDS.

Anonymous said...

I refuse to watch this show anymore.... We (Lofgren's) DONATED furniture for a house in Idaho a couple of seasons ago. The owner was not happy, they showed the Lofgren's truck for maybe 2 seconds only. Instead they focused on a stupid bear. This episode hardly even showed our furniture. Also, Ty's "secret" room is not a secret at all. They said that the door was open all week as he worked on it. They also said that Ty was groggy and honory when the cameras weren't on. She did like Michael Malohny though.

Brooke said...

Sad... all my good feelings are gone now too. I remember watching this show a couple of times last season and I too, just like you Holly, teared up everytime. Peter had the same reaction as Tod. Now that we look at all the implications of the show and what may happen after... it ruins it all. Why do you all have to think so much?

Also, we did keep in touch with Brad and Nadia for the first year or so of school, but then they completely dropped off the radar. We have no idea where they are or what they are doing now. Sad huh.

Jon and Ali said...

I'm glad my brother explained himself...for a while I thought he sounded like a freak'n elitist!! (My liberal side was appalled by his sarcasm).

The show has also made me cry and ashamed at the same time. They tell touching stories that basically exploit illness, war, and poverty.

Though I have thought of faking an illness to get my parents house done. Would that be wrong?

MediocreMama said...

Ali, if we chopped off your legs, put you in a rickety wheelchair, and then made a video of you trying to do yardwork...yes, I think maybe they would come fix up the house on McEwing Court.

Anonymous said...

While this post is old I felt a need to chime in. You people sicken me. Holly was having an intensely emotional experience until that ape of a wrestler walked in the room. Holly I too feel warmth in my bosom as I see these families get lavished with plasma screens, arcade games, and beds made to look like Batmobiles. The same feeling I get when I see a poor college student driving a 1985 Datsun put his trust in a rapper named Xhibit and the funky fresh crew over at "Pimp my Ride". Some of these people don't even have one television screen in their car and "PMR" bestows a multitude upon them. Ever wanted an LCD to pop out of your truck via remote control and dance to music via hydraulics?..."PMR" has got you covered. No one can tell me that these two extraordinary shows don't change lives each time the cameras roll. Thank you Ty...thanks Xhibit...for helping us remember how to love.