I haven't watched this show yet because every commercial I see shows something marginal or perverse. The sort of thing that you'll eventually find anywhere if you look hard enough. The topics on this board confirm my impressions. What about it, does Lisa ever find anything that's easy to celebrate, or is it all controversial and complex?
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i think she's always looking for the bad side of america and never celebrates all the good that goes on constantly.
she needs to stay away from hookers, porn for cash, etc and get to all the really good people in america who make this country as great as it is.
she did a show last week on the elderly and was surprised to learn that many adults over 65 actually live on their own. how amazing that a good part of our population doesn't need to live in a nursing home or assisted living, that's a real shocker!
she focused that show on her own father but failed to acknowledge that he smokes pot daily. she saved that to use on another venue, why not broadcast that on her own show? she's a hypocrite.
Just as I suspected, thanks. I'll stick to family and friends to experience our America.
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I'm confused....how is Ling a hypocrite because she didn't acknowledge her father smoking weed in the episode dealing with senior citizens? Was there footage of other senior citizens blazing up joint and she admonished them for it but conveniently left her father out of the footage of the old stoners? Maybe her dad didn't want it revealed at that particular time.
I can also understand why Ling was slightly surprised that some adults over 65 live alone. Be all PC and proactive if you like, but it's a rarity that has nothing to do with someone being feeble. My mom is around that age and she routinely shocks the hell out of people when she tells them she lives alone and has no desire to remarry or find a man. Hell, I'm 34 and I still get shocked responses when I tell people I live alone, don't have children (and don't want them) and am in no hurry to get married or even live with a man again. It was no big thing when I was in my 20s but now people look at me like I'm a crazy cat lady in the making (they're half right). Most people strive for companionship and when you're of a certain age and by your damn self, people tend to think you're some kind of sad sack loser who is going to fall in the tub, die alone and be found weeks later as a corpse that was half eaten by their pet. If anyone needs an education, it's our marriage/divorce and baby obsessed society who still think we all have to follow "The Plan" to be happy or fulfilled.
Oh, and the show isn't suppose to only chronicle all the good things about America. That was never its' aim. It documents lesser known lifestyles that also make up our society. If you want feel good crapola, I think Touched By an Angel is out on DVD.
I think it is a very valid concern that the elderly may die alone. We are social animals and companionship is one way to get our social needs met.
My grandma died alone in her apartment. It was sad that my mom didn't know she was dead until a few days later, because she was alone. What if she was dying for a day or so, how awful would that have been to know my grandmother was suffering because she didn't have a companion or regular visitors? (good thing for life alert, haha)
And my other grandma died and her husband quickly died after her even though he was very healthy up to that. He died because she was his everything, and life was pointless for him alone. He just let go.
That's not everybody, and some people are fairly solitary, but we do have social needs. Anyone would go crazy if left entirely to themselves for 3 days.
I get that you don't want to be looked down on for not choosing to remarry/have kids/whatever, but it's completely understandable for your loved ones to feel concerned that you don't have enough access to love in your life. They want you to be truly happy, and they may believe you are making excuses to justify being merely content with being alone.
I certainly despise being expected to live the same of life as everyone else, but I can see the difference between people saying that in a superior a-hole way and people suggesting a change because they see that your needs aren't being met, and they want the world for you.
People 65+ living alone doesn't surprise me one bit. Being unmarried and childless sounds perfectly fine to me...it's just as easy to be happy and fulfilled that way as it is with a spouse and/or kids. Especially if you have one or more pets, and human family members/friends you can count on.
I always say that the only kinds of kids I want are the furred, finned, feathered, and/or scaly sort, lol. I do have a vision of my dream wedding, and imagine that I'd be very happy if I met my ideal guy and made him my life partner--but I'm fairly choosy, and so far have not even met anyone I've both wanted and been able to date.
Being left entirely to myself for three or more days would absolutely NOT drive me crazy; it'd be a blissful dream come true! :P Humans may be social animals, but some individuals are more so than others.
By far, the more sensational and shocking topics are chosen bc they are of the most interest and are taboo. People want to know more, but she almost always finds positive aspects, not everytime, but often. Here are examples, this if going to get long:
For example, in the childhood obesity episode, she found a very inspiring group of people who worked together to get the whole town onboard in getting shape. It was a very small, rural town that had no close gym, which many people good not afford even if it existed. So they started at the fire dept. going on group walks and runs. Then they petitioned the town for funds to buy exercise equipment, which everyone has access to for free. And they had lost a combined 500 lbs. when it aired.
Another example, in 3AM girls episode, much attention was paid to the people trying to help these poor girls and the main story was of the success of one who got out and went on the graduate high school and attend college. A lovely couple took her in after hearing of her at church even though she was older and now treat her as a daughter.
As much as I dislike childhood pageants, in the sparkle baby episode you saw a gorgeous, sweet pair of sisters who each had their own struggles in life. The youngest having a rare disease that requires multiple ongoing surgeries of her stomach and the older one having been bullied to the point of having to change schools bc her interests were different. Their mother hired a pageant coach, not necessarily to do pageants, but more as a coach to help them with self-esteem. They did end up doing them and supported each other no matter who placed higher or won. To them, if the other won, they might as well be winning themselves bc they were equally happy and excited. Really great supportive parents.
Finally, one more positive story I can think of off the top of my head, is the pray the gay away: breaking news episode. The foundation that she had previously visited had completely changed from trying to make gay people straight to the detriment of their mental health or even lies and claiming to do something that cannot and should not be undone, but now they are trying to help gay people accept their sexuality instead of changing. This guy said he thought that if gay people were good people, they would go to heaven regardless, and got so much flack for that, which is insane to me. Instead of retracting that statement and apologizing, he was open-minded enough to rethink his entire mission and make it more positive. As I have said before, I am not religious, but that is pretty inspiring to me.
Sorry, so long, but I wrote everything I could off the top of my head. I have not seen some of the earlier episodes and I certainly can't remember all of them, so my apologies if I've missed anything really obvious.
"Everybody lies.."
Okay, thanks for the post but I just saw an ad for the season finale . . . families of mass murderers and serial killers. Yeah, sure. That's our America. About .00000001% of it. Werner Herzog probably adores this show.
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Please put some dashes above your sig line so I won't think it's part of your dumb post.
"it was a very positive episode. "
gemini,
i didn't see anything positive about that episode. lisa was amazed to learn that many people over 65 actually live on their own. what's amazing about that? most people over 65 are still working daily to support themselves.
they are not nearly as feeble and sickly as she apparently thinks they are.
about a week after the episode aired, she admitted on the jeff probst show that her father smokes weed every night to relax. how abut a little honesty for once? by the way, her father is 79 and still living on his own so what does that say about her shock learning about people over 65 living on their own?
is there a medical reason her dad smokes weed or is it just a thing of his?
share
to michael and gemini,
her father has a medical marijuana card so he smokes legally.
the seniors are positive because they're not all doom and gloom. they are living good lives doing what they want and i think lisa was surprised they're not failing and dependent on others.
in the interview lisa said she and her sister are almost like parents to their father. that's a ridiculous thing to say since they don't even live near him. he is still living on his own and has a housekeeper who comes in once in a while. she claimed he had dementia on the show but on the video she said they don't even know that to be true.
she needs to reevaluate her positions on senior citizens and find out the real truth since people are living longer and she will be a senior soon enough.
http://www.jeffprobst.com/posts/2738_is_lisa_ling_s_father_a_pothead/index.html
I just rewatched this episode and she did say that her father's physician believes he is in the early stages of dementia. I don't think her intent was to say she and her sister are exactly like parents to him now, just that they now do have some responsibilities that require taking care of things for him instead of the other way around.
Also, to get back to this show not being positive, what about that 97 year old woman and her daughter? That woman was not only living independently, but living her life to the fullest, breaking records for racing times in her age group. She had her daughter coaching her and cheering for her and I found them both to be extremely positive role models and very inspiring individuals.
"Everybody lies.."
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