By Emily Sullivan
Opinion Editor
Growing up, I admired TV show characters like Stephanie Tanner from “Full House” and Rudy Huxtable from “The Cosby Show.” I loved how spunky these young girls were, and I would model myself after them.
But kids today don’t get the same role models I grew up with. Today, kids are modeling themselves after children like six-year-old Alana Thompson or, as her fans know her, Honey Boo Boo.
Thompson got her start on the show “Toddlers and Tiaras,” and because of her popularity, was given the spinoff: “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” The show premiered this past August, and follows the daily life of Honey Boo Boo and experience the trials and tribulations of being a pageant child.
Gawker.com editor Rich Juzwiak put it best when he said, “The families of those who enter their children in to beauty pageants are way more fascinating than the pageants themselves,” in his Aug. 9 article about the show.
Physically, Honey Boo Boo is as adorable as they come. With her curly blonde hair and precious smile, it’s hard not to find her endearing.
But the minute this little girl opens her mouth, her cuteness goes away and reveals a spoiled little girl who has clearly never been taught manners.
In a video on TLC.com, Honey Boo Boo goes out to dinner with her family to a barbecue restaurant. As soon as the family steps inside, Honey Boo Boo’s pageant façade fades away.
“I want the barbecue. Then I want the chicken. And then I want the ribs,” Honey Boo Boo said.
After her mother commented that she didn’t think the little girl could eat it all, Honey Boo Boo shows her true colors yet again.
“But I want it,” Honey Boo Boo said.
Her parents then proceed to order her everything she demanded. Have they ever heard of the word ‘no?’
I can easily see the appeal of this show. The antics of the pageant family are funny to say the least, but they are also extremely embarrassing to watch. Is this what we want to be teaching the next generation? That it’s OK to be a snobby brat and disgustingly rude?
A video on Gawker.com shows Honey Boo Boo and her older sister, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon, at an etiquette lesson. Pumpkin asks the teacher if it’s OK to pass gas at the dinner or if that’s rude.
When the teacher tells her that it’s about as rude as you can get, Pumpkin is shocked.
“I’ll stop passing gas when I’m dead,” she said.
The shows I watched as a kid didn’t rely on potty jokes to be funny. They used corny jokes and silly puns appropriate for all ages. This show is giving kids today the impression it’s alright to be crass and terrifyingly immature. Sure, it has entertainment value, but what else?
I miss the shows that taught values you could take with you for the rest of your life. Shows like this are just going to teach kids that if you are bratty and disgusting, you can get a TV show and be famous. I miss the heartwarming endings where the a parent and their child would have a bonding moment during a little chat while cheesy music played in the background.
The only thing cheesy about Honey Boo Boo is the insane amount of cheese balls she seems to eat for breakfast.
I know what Stephanie Tanner would say in a situation like this: How rude!
