Amish In The City: Episode 1
Controversy And Exploitation?
Or Just More Of The Same?
By Evan D. Baltz
July 30, 2004
Imagine the setting: A group of TV executives sitting around a highly polished maple conference table, sipping tall caramel macchiatos, listening to pitches for new reality TV shows. "Okay, in this one, we have a group of bachelors all courting the same girl and…" "Seen it!" "Okay, um, let's see, how about we put a bunch of Amish kids in a LA mansion with city kids?" What?!
UPN promotes the new show "Amish in the City" as "a unique look into the Amish journey of discovery, known as rumspringa, through a group of young adults who have left their spiritually devout, rural communities to experience life in the big city, with six roommates from various metropolitan areas." This "journey" premiered July 28 amid some controversy.
Fifty some members of Congress and the Amish Church protested the show as being exploitive. I guess neither organization has seen another "Reality" show, since that is pretty much the script for all of them. That is what makes us watch.
The initial double-episode began with a closer look at each of the soon-to-be house guests. We were introduced to the City Dwellers: Arial-the waitress vegan, Kevan-the salesman from Las Vegas, Meagan-the freelance stylist from Chicago, Nick-the busboy from Boston, Reese-the club promoter from Hollywood, and Whitney-the college student from south-central LA. We also met the five Amish young people who were about to enter the big city: Jonas-from Iowa, Miriam-from Ohio, Mose-from Wisconsin, Randy-from Indiana, and Ruth-from Ohio.
The City Dwellers entered the house first, each thinking that this would be a cool time hanging out with other young people, `a la "The Real World." They had no idea what the real premise of the show was going to be, even though the walls of the LA hillside mansion were adorned with photos and accessories from Amish life. One character remarked later that she thought it was just "retro" style.
Finally the Amish group arrived at the front door of the house in full Amish garb. The City Dwellers were shocked and thought it was just some Mormon neighbors coming by to greet them. At first they didn't even open the door, preferring to wise-crack about the group while looking out the window. Eventually however, the door was opened and the guests realized they would be living together with the Amish. The City Dwellers were visibly disappointed by this turn of events. So much for all the partying and "hooking up" they had in mind.
After the groups moved into bedrooms, they began to talk out by the pool. Most of the City Dwellers were unfamiliar with Amish customs and asked quite a few questions, often pausing to laugh. The Amish young people were clearly a bit overwhelmed by the house and the setting and the attitudes of their city-dwelling roommates. They remarked several times in defense that they were just regular people.
At first, I thought that the most obnoxious City Dweller would be Nick from Boston. He sounded and acted pretty much like every other reality TV Bostonian. It appears as if no show can be without this character now. However, after only a few additional minutes, it became apparent that Reese and Ariel would both strongly compete for the title of most annoying. Reese, like Nick, is a staple now for all reality TV programs. So prevalent is this character now that even Joe Schmo 2 is spoofing it. In case you hadn't guessed in the first 2 seconds of the show, Reese is the gay character. He can't wait to see Kevan in the pool and discusses with a female guest how he thinks Kevan might be "curious." Ariel on the other hand, is a complete idiot who believes, truly believes, cows are from outer space and that cow milk is "cow puss" and not meant for humans. Her vegan lifestyle can't just be kept to herself; she has to put down everyone who eats meat or any other animal product. The other house guests soon become annoyed with her constant preaching.
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