It should use the word “artificial”. The children do not even look
like themselves after being subjected to false finger nails, wigs,
eyelashes, tans, hair extensions, and over the top makeup. Have I left
anything out? Painting 20 year old faces on children is almost obscene. I
saw one mother even put false toe nails on her daughter. I can’t help
remembering one mother who prayed with her two little girls, both
contestants, before their pageant that they would bring home a crown.
She mentioned bringing home a crown twice during her so-called prayer.
I, too, believe that the parents love crowing to family and friends when
their children win something. Most of the children get so tired. The
show got truly stupid after some parents did all the expressions,
movements and prancing around for their children to copy. They did
everything except get up on the stage themselves. Apparently the pageant
people don’t care what goes on as long as they get their entrance fees.
The temptation to rate this a zero only comes from after looking at this program, I’d want to rate it the most horrible reality program on the air. What are these parents, specifically mothers, doing parading their children around like this? But in taking a step back, I rated it an 8 because what TLC (The Learning Channel) has done was take the audience into the world of toddlers competing for crowns and money and those that are taking them to the pageants to do so. I am making the judgment, not TLC. And because of this, the show deserves an 8 for it is showing something I never knew existed, how these children are exposed, how they get prepared, how the parents (mothers and fathers) act and react in toddler pageantry.
As you watch the program, you will constantly hear: “my child wants to do it, that’s why we are here.” This began to wear thin as the program progresses week after week as I heard and watched the parents relay their stories. For example, one of the programs I watched just happened to have a contestant’s father voicing how he didn’t appreciate the mother taking his daughter to the shows. I thought TLC did a good job by giving this point of view a bit of camera time because most people feel that way. I know I did. But here’s where TLC makes you think which is what many reality shows lack. Here’s a father who hated ‘being’ at the pageants; and called a lot of the mothers there ‘overweight, fat, obese women making the child chase their own failed dreams’. Wow.
On the other hand, you as the viewer would start to question this father’s motives. What kind of man was he not to have control over his household if he felt that way? Take your daughter out, you might think. I would have. Well, my father’s word was law in my household, so HE would have. But his daughter continued to be a contestant because the mother took her, trained her, pushed her. And the mother, albeit thin in body shape — was doing the same thing he accused the ‘overweight’, ‘obese’ mothers of doing. TLC begs you to question, So what’s the difference here? What makes his thin wife better than the overweight ones at these pageants? Were we to give her a pass because she was ‘thin’? And if you do, why would you treat her any differently than the others just because of her…looks? This is where TLC shines in presenting this piece of reality programming. They made a point: it’s not about how one looks, it can be about how they are in the head. Many of these women have it in their heads to put their sons and daughters on this circuit and no one will convince them otherwise. Obese in weight has nothing on being obese in the head. TLC is gives you the opportunity to look beyond the thinness, the fake hair, the fake lashes, pretty dresses and make up. What do you have here? And is this what makes a child, a mother, a father successful…smart…human?!? Another example TLC shows is the economics factor. In one program mother outlined how much it took to get their daughter into one show. It was well over $2,500, and $130 to enter the pageant and the prize if she had won, was only $500. The viewer would have to think, then what is the monetary payoff of these pageants? Is the money a factor? Sometimes the parent makes you want to believe so, but as you watch the program it becomes clear that it is not. There is no profit to be made here.
The temptation to rate this a zero only comes from after looking at this program, I’d want to rate it the most horrible reality program on the air. What are these parents, specifically mothers, doing parading their children around like this? But in taking a step back, I rated it an 8 because what TLC (The Learning Channel) has done was take the audience into the world of toddlers competing for crowns and money and those that are taking them to the pageants to do so. I am making the judgment, not TLC. And because of this, the show deserves an 8 for it is showing something I never knew existed, how these children are exposed, how they get prepared, how the parents (mothers and fathers) act and react in toddler pageantry.
As you watch the program, you will constantly hear: “my child wants to do it, that’s why we are here.” This began to wear thin as the program progresses week after week as I heard and watched the parents relay their stories. For example, one of the programs I watched just happened to have a contestant’s father voicing how he didn’t appreciate the mother taking his daughter to the shows. I thought TLC did a good job by giving this point of view a bit of camera time because most people feel that way. I know I did. But here’s where TLC makes you think which is what many reality shows lack. Here’s a father who hated ‘being’ at the pageants; and called a lot of the mothers there ‘overweight, fat, obese women making the child chase their own failed dreams’. Wow.
On the other hand, you as the viewer would start to question this father’s motives. What kind of man was he not to have control over his household if he felt that way? Take your daughter out, you might think. I would have. Well, my father’s word was law in my household, so HE would have. But his daughter continued to be a contestant because the mother took her, trained her, pushed her. And the mother, albeit thin in body shape — was doing the same thing he accused the ‘overweight’, ‘obese’ mothers of doing. TLC begs you to question, So what’s the difference here? What makes his thin wife better than the overweight ones at these pageants? Were we to give her a pass because she was ‘thin’? And if you do, why would you treat her any differently than the others just because of her…looks? This is where TLC shines in presenting this piece of reality programming. They made a point: it’s not about how one looks, it can be about how they are in the head. Many of these women have it in their heads to put their sons and daughters on this circuit and no one will convince them otherwise. Obese in weight has nothing on being obese in the head. TLC is gives you the opportunity to look beyond the thinness, the fake hair, the fake lashes, pretty dresses and make up. What do you have here? And is this what makes a child, a mother, a father successful…smart…human?!? Another example TLC shows is the economics factor. In one program mother outlined how much it took to get their daughter into one show. It was well over $2,500, and $130 to enter the pageant and the prize if she had won, was only $500. The viewer would have to think, then what is the monetary payoff of these pageants? Is the money a factor? Sometimes the parent makes you want to believe so, but as you watch the program it becomes clear that it is not. There is no profit to be made here.
