THEY HAVE GONE TOO FAR

Remember how I am displeased with the current state of the world, and am taking solace with this displeasure thanks to Wilson and his wonderfully woeful works? Yeah, just got reminded about how much I hate people last night.

You ever heard of the new game show Moment of Truth? If not, let me give you a brief recap of the concept. The idea behind it is that contestants are hooked up to a polygraph prior to the show, and have to answer over 50 incredibly personal questions. The show involves answering some of these same questions in a setting with your closest family and friends present (also, on TV), and you have to tell the truth in order to get a chance to win $500,000. Sounds bad already, doesn't it? Now, this concept should incite discomfort and pain with most people, because everyone has skeletons in their closet, even if they're just thoughts and not actions. I mean, these questions really pry. The family and friends have a chance to dismiss one question from the set, if they don't want to hear the answer. Ouch. This is discomfort for the whole family here.

Why would I watch such an unpleasant thing? Well, let me answer you, Rhetorical Question. I really wanted to watch the new Sarah Connor Chronicles episode, which airs right after this show (and TRUST ME I'm going to have a whole Terminator inspired blog later, possibly later today), so I caught most of one woman's painful session. And it really was like a trainwreck: I couldn't turn away.

The greed is incredible. This woman started with some embarrassing questions, which revealed character flaws, like she stole once from her place of employment, and things like that. But after she reached $10,000, the questions became even more unsettling. Her husband of 2 years was present--a really nice looking young guy, a cop. He shrugged off the stealing thing, and seemed a good sport at the time, but after a few minutes, I really felt for him. The questions focused like a laser beam on her marriage, with the camera cutting away to him at crucial moments. It was revealed that she was in love with another man on her wedding day, and they brought the ex-boyfriend out to read the question "If I told you I loved you, would you leave your husband for me." The ex-boyfriend actually seemed incredibly uncomfortable asking it. Her sister pushed the button so that they would not hear the answer, even though the husband wanted to know. The next question was worse. The next question was "Have you ever cheated on your husband with another man?" The answer was yes. The camera cut to her husband, and he was clearly very upset by this. THIS WAS JUST FOR MONEY. She was ruining her marriage for a CHANCE at $100,000; that wasn't even the ultimate question in that round.

Let me back up and say that the host filmed a personal disclaimer before the second half of this show, saying that it was the most uncomfortable he's ever been in this situation, and we should watch it with caution. The last question was somehow fitting: "do you think you're a good person?" She answered "yes." The answer was false. She lost everything she had earned up to that point, and probably destroyed her relationships with the other people in her life.

Now, whether or not this was staged, and the family knew about these things, and just wanted to win money is one thing. But the worst part of the damn show was the audience. They cheered and booed at every horrid answer to every horrid question. It's like the Colosseum, where the only sport is watching our own senses of propriety and decency getting slaughtered instead of gladiators. I sounded like a very crotchety old person just then, but I've never been into people airing their dirty laundry on national television. When I did watch Jerry Springer as a young'un, I never really saw the guests as real people. Those were sideshow acts, with all the screaming and cussing and fights that Steve had to break up. It didn't seem real, and that was kind of the point. This show was all TOO real. These were clearly real people, acting real. It sucked for me. But the audience thought it was great fun, booing and cheering as the woman revealed every new, horrible truth. Even the host was disturbed with the enthusiasm of the audience, and reminded them that everything happening is real and not something to cheer about.

Was it fitting that she didn't win the money with the last question about her self-view? Sure. I wouldn't want to reward her previous honesty. However, I must say that the polygraph results for that kind of question could have been influenced by anything; it's too subjective a question and not a hard truth. It could've been a move of the producers to turn reality tv into justice, making it impossible for her to win. I just don't know.

Was it worth it? Well, now the whole country (okay, those people watching Fox) knows what kind of a person she is, and if her marriage isn't suffering because of this, I'd be amazed. I say, save it for a therapist's office, instead of a game show. Let people with milder dramas have a turn to reveal their more normal secrets.

Next week, I'll just watch a rerun of Law and Order, or something instead of that. I don't really want to feel sleazy watching TV.