GirlChat #740743
As I noted to Hatter that the environment of the pageant industry appears to be so very visibly corrupted because what we see on sensationalized reality shows is the worst of the worst cases for the purposes of entertainment and to make ratings. This is especially the case with the parents, as the only ones who make the cut are loonies, drama queens, elitists, and those who are clearly trying to gain recognition and fame through their kids. The same is the case with documentaries made by people who hate the industry for personal reasons. Can we expect objectivity or a depiction of typical young pageant performers from either of the above? That is, from people who are looking for sensationalistic ratings (i.e., reality show producers) or have a specific agenda (i.e., documentarians), respectively? We get snippets of what are likely happy kids enjoying themselves on these shows and documentaries, but you will note that none of these are highlighted or focused upon. No, both the entertainment and agenda-driven moguls want kids and parents alike who are divas, speak disrespectfully to each other, and area all but guaranteed to provide a ruckus and negative spectacle for viewers.
These one-sided depictions also serve to set up negative expectations for both viewers and participants, so they focus their attention on the bad, or even create the impression that you're supposed to behave like that if you are a performer or parents of a performer. This likely creates a good number of self-fulfilling prophecies or kids and parents acting a role they believe they are expected to act in order to get ahead in the business. This is equivalent to how many boys who play on a hockey league thinking they are expected to get into fights on the ice because these incidents are heavily highlighted on TV or in the media for entertainment purposes when they occur. |