Over lunch today, I decided to give a look at FOXs new show Utopia. From its description, it seemed like it could be a very promising show. Its a dozen or so people given a barn, a few milk cows and chickens, and 5 acres of land to live on for one year. The idea is to watch and see what kind of society develops. Will it be a democracy, dictatorship, anarchy or something else? How will they capitalize on their limited resources - will they farm the land, fish the (limited) waters? Will religion/faith become an important part of society, or will it be left on the sidelines? What, exactly, will develop over a year. On the surface, this sounds interesting - far above most of the reality TV crap out there. Once I got a half hour into it, I realized otherwise. As per reality TV formula, the object isnt to see how they form a society and how well they manage over the next year. Its just to watch them fight and self destruct. EVERY real society that has EVER been formed was done with a core group of people who shared mostly the same core beliefs. The pilgrims were all Puritans. The ancient romans built an empire with a group of people who were generally on the same page about what life should be like. Sure, no one agrees on everything, but all societies are formed around a set of core beliefs that they share in common. In this Utopia show, we have a far right preacher - the kind who wants to make sure everyone is saved - and a staunch atheist - the kind who wants to ensure that everyone believes that God is a hoax. Theres your vegan animal rights activist, and an avid hunter complete with NRA card. Each person there has one core fundamental belief that is in exact contrast with someone else who has the exact opposite fundamental belief. Theres absolutely no way a society can grow from this. From the way this groups demographics are set up and how each ones No Compromise Core Belief is in stark contrast with someone elses, Im not even sure they could break up into two different groups and create two societies. From my math and the 45 minutes of it that I watched, they would need at least three and maybe four different societies in order for everyone to compromise on the things they are willing to, yet maintain that one big one that is off limits. This isnt a show to see how a group of people develop a society. Its just like every other reality show. Were just there to watch them fight and self destruct. Stupid TV people. It was a great idea until you got your hands on it.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 19:43:58 +0000