Mary Best
Managing Editor
Jeremiah, Abe, Rebecca, Kate and Sabrina are all names trending on social media. While a few seem rather biblical and one is reminiscent of an endearing teenage witch, it’s all to do with a rather frightening movement behind TLC’s “Breaking Amish.”
Disclaimer: I am a fan of the show, but things are about to get more real than saying yes to the dress.
TLC describes the nine-part miniseries as a never before seen insight into a rarely explored world. The show follows 2 Amish men, 2 Amish women and one Mennonite woman who travel to New York City for the first time to experience an English (what the Amish call anything outside of their culture) lifestyle and English customs.
Each hour-long episode leads the viewer to believe this group has agreed to be on camera and leave their different communities and living situations while risking being shunned for abandoning God and turning to temptation.
Once the show premiered in September, a good portion of the nation, judging by my Twitter feed, relished in arguing about Crazy Kate and her drinking problems, talking about Jeremiah’s obsession with cab driving and “shipping” (Tumblr lingo for deciding who would be a good couple) Rebecca and Abe.
Tuesday night opened my eyes to a whole new world. A simple search to find the preview for next week’s episode led me to sites like starcasm.net which have photos, police records and articles galore screaming controversy about this ground-breaking new show. Plenty of ex-fans and people claiming to know members of the cast have released scandalous photos — everything from a divorce record and mug shots to dated photos of the cast in English clothing as far back as seven years prior to the show’s debut.
Apparently, the new cool thing for former fans to do is condemn the show more extremely than the families of those who choose to leave the strictest Amish communities. Rumor upon rumor show up day after day on the site and related Facebook pages, claiming TLC is lying and made up the whole show.
TLC has confirmed some, but not all, of these rumors are true and will be addressed on later episodes in a Sept. 20 Variety article. Considering the show only has four episodes left, everyone needs to put down the pitchforks and do some basic addition.
Abe is 22, and has a 2008 mug shot for public intoxication. If the screamers would calm down long enough to subtract, it’s easy to deduce Abe, pictured with a very Amish haircut and clothes, had been arrested at age 18 while probably practicing Rumspringa. This is the Amish tradition practiced in some communities which allows young people, typically between 16 and 18, to experience the English world for a brief time before deciding whether they remain in the “outside” culture or leave it.
Rebecca, 20, is under fire after a supposed 2010 photo of her in a bikini surfaced when she was 18. Jeremiah, 32, takes the lead with a former marriage, five kids and 17 police reports. His leading naysayer, his ex-wife, claims he also left the community prior to the show 14 years ago, also at age 18, according to recent articles on starcasm.net.
There could be an explanation for all of this. TLC may have approached five people who left their respected communities in the past and asked them to retell their stories as if they did it this year. While that would be a huge acting accomplishment for any member of the cast, it’s all speculation until everything is revealed on the show, most likely in the finale.
I grew up watching the upbeat, song-filled “Sharon, Lewis and Bram,” on TLC during breakfast before going to elementary school. I doubt a network with so many emotion-driven shows and uplifting morning programs would go to such great lengths to try and fool all of America by pulling a stunt like this.
I’m not 100 percent behind the network or the “Faking Amish” movement. Despite the lost-all-hope-for-the-future feelings I have about Honey Boo Boo, I don’t think TLC is capable of it.
Put down the pointing fingers, and please stop bragging about who you know in the Amish community who can vouch for the show’s lack of authenticity. Seriously, you’re more annoying than Jabba the H—, I mean, Honey Boo Boo.
