Help from Honey Boo Boo

The TLC new hit reality series “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” is shocking people all over the country. Seven year old beauty pageant star Alana, affectionately called “Honey Boo Boo” is the star of the show, filmed in her rural hometown of McIntyre, Georgia. It focuses on daily life in the Shannon-Thompson household, which includes “Mama June”, “Sugar Bear”, and Alana’s three older sisters, Anna “Chickadee”, Jessica “Chubbs”, and Lauryn “Pumpkin”. A recent addition to the family is Anna’s baby, Kaitlyn.

While this show is at times simply revolting, from Alana’s baby pig, Glitzy, defecating on the kitchen table, to the family eating road kill or playing in a mud pit, it does expose us to rural southern U.S. culture. It is important for children and others to recognize that this kind of behavior is present in our country. A ten year old girl recently did an impression of her mother’s reaction to the show. While turning up her nose, she proclaimed, “They are just white trash. That is all that is”.Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and although I do not totally disagree with this mother’s comment, I believe that this reality series is good for opening up our eyes to the different ways people in our country live. I personally would not enjoy this lifestyle but these people sure seem to be grabbing life by the horns and making the most of all they have. They make their own fun in gross, yet, creative ways. The most disgusting yet, being the guess whose breath game, when one person closes their eyes, while another family member breathes in their face. 

With all gross aspects of this series put aside, we can see how a family in rural, mostly poor, McIntyre, Georgia lives life to the fullest. With most reality shows focusing on wealthy families, like the Kardashians or the Jonases, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” is a welcome change, that gives Americans a look into the redneck culture in the rural south.