In each episode of My Yard Goes Disney, lucky homeowners get a jaw-dropping makeover inspired
by Disney Parks that's worthy of major family playtime.
At a time when the country is bogged down in the worst recession since the Great Depression of 1929 and with millions out of work, the timing of this show couldn't be worse. Viewers are treated to the spectacle of middle-class families, spending $thousands of dollars to create a Disney-like theme park for their ultra-spoiled children in their back yards. Suddenly large yards of homeowners are invaded by battalions of workers, digging swimming pools, building castles, railroads, and other nonsense, so that their "adorable" kids can experience the Disney profit machine in the comforts of their homes. I sat there slack-jawed at the mind-numbing insensitivity of the concept. What sort of message is Disney and HG TV trying to send here. And people complain about the wretched excess of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills!
I went over the HG website looking in vain for something more substantial here, such as Disney and HG donating services and materials to a worthy family, but no such luck. It's all-out consumerism with a capital C and is obscene. Disney even promotes visits to its theme parks on the HG website page for the show.
I expect a certain amount of programming insanity with programs such as Cupcake Wars and various down-market programming such as cake decorating contests over at the Food Network. HG, which owns the Food Network, has remained above the fray when it comes to tacky programming. But MY YARD GOES DISNEY represents a new low in programming. I'm surprised that either Disney and HG are slumming in this kind of collaborative consumer excess. Shame on both of them.
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