Subject: RE: Maury Show Oh man, I used to have fights with my mom every time Maury did the "OMG MAKE MY FREAK TEENAGER LOOK NORMAL" show (which was about once a week ). They'd take a goth or punk kid, and give them a makeover that made them look like they were just about to go to the yacht club with Muff and Uncle Biff. The moms would cry all over the set and bawl with gratitude, and the kids would cry all over the set and bawl about being sorry they'd been such embarrassing children. Occasionally you'd get a kid's barely stifled contempt instead. ("Don't you like your new clothes?!" "Sure." "See how happy your mom is, aren't you glad she's happy?!" "Uh huh." ) My mom would argue that those kids looked ridiculous, and did they ever think they'd get a job or go anywhere in life looking like that, and how awful was it that it took going on national TV to make them wake up to the real world. I would argue that the show made all the kids look the same (beyond the country club garb, there was more than one show where they actually gave each kid the same clothes and similar hair ), that kids need to dress crazy while they can because it'd probably be their only chance to do it on a daily basis, and that if the kids were just dressing crazy and weren't problem kids behaviorally or at school, then the parents were being jerks for not accepting their kids the way they were. Then we'd be huffy with each other for a little while. |