Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Brat Camp
Farewell to the sadistic pleasures of Brat Camp
AtomicAnt:
--- Quote ---On 2005-08-26 06:59:00, Nihilanthic wrote:
"Well, I dont read slate... so I dunno. Im also in insomniac mode so I didnt pick up on what I should've :silly:
My points still stand, however.
If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base.
-- Dave Barry
--- End quote ---
"
--- End quote ---
I am a Slate reader and so I get the satire. It is like a comedian I saw on TV recently. He ranted on and on about how annoying his toddler daughter is repeatedly, incessantly, asking the question, "Why?" Any parent who went through the 'why?' phase can relate. The punch line was, "Shut up and eat your fucking french fries!" It was funny. Even my kids laughed. We would never actually speak to a toddler this way and I am sure the comedian never really said this to his daughter.
I think the defining moment of Brat Camp's final episode was Jada's departure. When she realized she was the last one there; when they told her ALL the other kids had graduated, except her. She had her final hysterical breakdown of the show.
You can judge this girl all you want, but I dare anyone to attempt to show that this act of pure cruelty was therapeutic or in some way beneficial to this child. This is the very thing the author was aiming his satire at. The earth-named counselors taking their final shots at this girl as they release her.
In the epilogue of the show, Jada's parents say the program failed her completely. They mention her boating accident in text on the screen. The final message to me was they dragged this girl through a wilderness program, kicking and screaming the entire way, clueless, unable to come to come to terms with her issues and then stuck it to her one last time as they let her go, completely unchanged; and yet she insists she had 'changed completely.' This was the best counter-advertising they could have done for wilderness therapy. That is if the viewers actually saw it for what it was. The program had so vilified the girl that the audience was entertained by her torture. It came across that they were blaming her for failing to 'work the program.'
It was also telling that they showed clips of the parents talking about Jada, "We don't know what will become of her." Then, they show Jada in her room talking. They do not show the family together talking about their family problems. The disconnect between parents and child was glaring.
I noted that they let all the kids go at 56 days whether they were ready-or-not. I guess they used their budget up or they wanted the Hollywood happy ending. It was not lost on me that if this was not a reality TV show, the program likely would have kept some of these kids and moved them to other groups. They hadn't been 'fixed' yet.
Troll Control:
The whole show looked more like pledging a fraternity than any kind of therapy I've ever seen.
Mental cruelty combined with mindless, repetitive tasks, yeah, that's therapy alright...
Anonymous:
"Brat Camp was like porn for people who hate teenagers?which is probably the largest target audience possible, since it includes everyone in the world, even (and especially) teenagers"
I guess I'm a sadist, because I loved Brat Camp, and laughed hysterically at every episode. (Especially the solo one, with the face paint and the horribly contrived native american names, that no self respecting native american would be caught dead calling himself.) Despite the fact that I have been through a residential program that was a tad worse, and lasted much longer, and I also have strong feelings about the exploitative industry about private behavior modification schools and wilderness programs.
Still, I laughed myself silly every time Jada had a meltdown, or Frank was acting like a macho ass and one of the ridiculous wimpy hippie counselors would try to talk to him in their calm hippie voices (oh my GOD were they wimpy! The fact that Jada graduated proved how wimpy they were. But I did enjoy that little sadistic trick they pulled on her at the end.)
It was like crack.
I guess I'm just a pile of contradictions. Or maybe I just hate teenagers, too. (I know I was sure a raging asshole when I was a teen.) Or maybe I just bought into the whole package abc was selling.
I have to admit, it sure was enjoyable watching all the kids freak out, and watching the staff get more and more ridiculous and say more and more absurd things each time. Oh the drama!
I wonder if these kids even signed releases? I'm sure they did. It'd be illegal to film the show if they didn't. It just seems strange that, you know, they didn't even know they were going to be going out into the wilderness, but before all of that shit happened... oh, by the way, will you sign this release so we can film you being told you will be spending several weeks in the high desert?
SHH Anon Classics:
Every reality show's participants sign releases before being filmed. These kids knew where they were going and what was going to happen. Reality shows are staged and it only appears that they go through the jungle wilderness and almost get killed (for example: survivor series). How do you know there wasn't a Mickey D's down the mountain and a Motel 6 to stay in every night? Some people are SOOOOO gullible :silly:
Deborah:
I don't know if it's true for all 9 'contestants', but atleast a few did not know where they were going until they got there.
While their parents may have signed releases before airing, it's my understanding that the kids signed off after they arrived, and under duress.
Contestants on reality show get paid for their performances.
These kids apparently got tuition paid in lieu of payment.
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