BY ROY ADAMS
he headline in the Washington Post's Style section appeared
harmless enough: "Congressmen, Amish Protest Unreality Series."1 According
to the story, UPN television is planning a reality show "in which 16-year-old
members of the Amish community leave their families to join non-Amish teenagers
in a house in a city yet to be determined" to participate in a program
"tentatively called Amish in the City" (perhaps to evoke memories
of the HBO sizzler just then ending: Sex in the City).
As many readers know, the Amish are a quiet, peace-loving community.
At the center of their value system, says Amish studies authority Donald B.
Kraybill, is the concept of Gelassenheit--an attitude of "self-surrender,
resignation to God's will . . . , self-denial, contentment, a calm spirit."
It includes values such as "obedience, humility, submission, thrift, .
. . simplicity." Resisting the universal pressure for social change, the
Amish see tradition functioning as "a healthy drag that 'slows things down'
and provides an anchor to a solid past."2
But UPN wants to deface that picture. Describing the anticipated
series, CBS chair Leslie Moonves, who is also in charge of UPN (CBS and UPN
are both owned by Viacom), said outlandishly: "To have people who don't
have television walk down Rodeo Drive and be freaked out by what they see, I
think will be interesting television."3
How gross! We're not dealing with circus animals here. These
are human beings, youngsters from conservative Christian homes with high morals
and standards. How reckless to turn them into curiosity objects and force them
into the modern world against the wishes of their parents! "Our religion
is very sacred and precious to us," an Amish leader wrote to Moonves. "We
are very concerned and very much opposed to having the Amish used as subject
material for any movie or television production. The Amish wish to live a quiet
and peaceful life and do not appreciate the added attention and unwanted publicity
this TV series will bring to the Amish Communities."4
The pathos and down-home common sense in those words ought
to grip the attention of every decent person. Against charges and complaints
about heavy sexual content in programming and the continuous diet of senseless,
gratuitous violence, the media folks like to say they're merely reflecting contemporary
mores. But what can explain this deliberate attempt to thrust a quiet, respectful,
decent people into a limelight they do not seek, and into a kind of publicity
completely contrary to their traditional standards and values?
It is true there's a period in Amish culture when adolescents,
before their baptism, are allowed to "run around" (rumspringa
it's called)--a kind of rite of passage, getting a taste of the world around
them, so to speak. But by and large it all occurs not terribly far from the
general security of family and community. It's a "tampering with the world,"
says Kraybill, that serves as "a form of social immunization"5--undoubtedly,
a far cry from what these TV moguls have in mind.
Incensed over the development, Representative Joe Pitts said
at a press conference, "This 'social experiment' . . . can only serve to
take advantage of vulnerable young people at a time when they are making decisions
about their faith that will affect the rest of their lives."6
I was unable to reach UPN or CBS for comments. But according
to the Post report, UPN earlier on had issued a statement giving assurance
that it and the show's producers had "every intention of treating the Amish,
their beliefs and their heritage with the utmost respect and decency."7
Yes! Right! These are the very guys who professed to being
shocked--shocked!--at the behavior of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake at
the 2004 Super Bowl last February. What we're watching here is the specter of
executives and producers driven by an insatiable urge to line their pockets
at the expense of a peaceful and defenseless people. It's the crudest form of
exploitation, a new low.8
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1 Lisa de Moraes, "Congressmen, Amish Protest Un-reality Series,"
Washington Post, Feb. 21, 2004, p. C1.
2 Donald B. Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture (Baltimore and London:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989), pp. 25, 41.
3 www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/19/tv.amishinthecity.ap/.
4 De Moraes, p. C7.
5 Kraybill, p. 139.
6 De Moraes, p. C7.
7 Ibid.
8 To register your opposition, go to www. ruralreality.org/ruralreality/ and
click on "Take Action" in the left-hand column (if the site is still
up).
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Roy Adams is an associate editor of the Adventist Review.
