- If you haven’t seen the new Fox (surprise!) reality/game show “Moment of Truth,” let me assure you that it may be the program that finally makes good on television’s promise to herald the end of civilization. Of course, the contestants and the viewers are complicit in the destruction of all that is good; my only feeble defense is that I found out about my subject this week by trolling the Internet, and not by actually watching the show. Like I said, it’s a feeble defense.
- At any rate, the idea of the show is that you can win money by passing a lie-detector test—the gimmick is that you are being tested on a lot of deeply personal questions. And this week, a woman admitted to stealing from work, being in love with someone other than her husband on the day they were married, and cheating on her husband, too. For this, she earned a hundred grand. And, get this, she lost it on a final question in which she said she thought she was basically a good person…and was found to be lying!
- Of course, the most upsetting aspect of her confession is stealing from work.
- If, indeed, we can define certain television shows as “pastimes,” it implies, does it not, that they are our leisure activities? That this is part of what we are doing to relax when we are not working? Many people would number such activities as watching TV with their loved ones as part of their scheduling of quality down time. So what happens when television itself sets out to erode the “life” part of our work/life, and pay us for our trouble? The question is a rhetorical one. What we need is a “Moment of Truth” for the people who get paid to come up with ideas like this. Put them in the hot seat and have them answer the following questions:
- Do you lose any sleep at night knowing you are appealing to the most repulsive, puerile aspects of human nature?
- Can members of your family embrace you without having to shower afterwards?
- If this horrific premise of a TV show ends up being all you will ever be remembered for, could you still look at yourself in the mirror before you die?
- Sure, they’ll win a hundred thousand dollars, but they’ll have to live with the consequences, just like that woman who ruined her life for millions of viewers to see. Interestingly, “Moment of Truth” is hosted by Mark L. Wahlberg, who, prior to this, was known for hosting the gentle, down-home PBS program “Antiques Roadshow.” How he went from Pleasantville to destroying relationships on national TV is a moment of truth question in itself.
- Oh, well. It can always be argued that even by letting off steam about trash TV I am giving it the publicity it wants. Or that I am perversely intrigued by it, just like they want me to be. But it seems to me there is a line that needs crossing between feeding the machine and trying to get a dialogue going about how the machine needs a serious tune-up. What do you think?