Honey Boo Boo caused a stir in the US when she took to the airwaves last year, with the child becoming many people’s guilty pleasure whilst also having critics up in arms over the show reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
It comes to the UK tonight as one of the tent pole signings on the newly launched TLC channel, but why did Honey Boo Boo cause such a stir in the States when she burst onto the scene and will she cause the same uproar here?
It all started on Toddlers & Tiaras, the controversial reality show that saw cameras enter the world of child beauty pageants. Here we met Alana Thompson, the energetic and charismatic six year old that would start be known under the name of ‘Honey Boo Boo’. From there it was only a matter of time until she got her own show, and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is exactly that, showing us the lives of her and her family just going about their day to day shenanigans.
Over the last few months, Honey Boo Boo has morphed from reality TV personality to cultural touchstone, with satirical king South Park dedicating an episode to her and even Barack Obama mentioning her in a speech.
Very little of the attention has been good though, with the show often the subject of hate from critics who call it exploitative and crass. In this last regard, it’s hard to argue for Honey Boo Boo. This is a show that not only lowers the bar but jumps up and down on it until it’s disappeared underground.
The thing is though, as low brow as the Thompson family might get, they’re always there for each other and incredibly comfortable in their own skin. They don’t go out of their way to offend anyone, they just do what they like to do and try and live their lives.
The Honey Boo Boo clanThe show has often been called exploitative and whilst TLC might be exploiting the family and the child at the centre of the show, they really don’t seem to care too much. Heck, they seem to be very much aware of it. The show might point and snigger at their antics and horrific diets, but the Thompsons wouldn’t change a thing they do if the cameras stopped rolling.
In terms of ‘Mama’ June exploiting her daughter, it can be argued either way.
Many say her decisions to enter her child into pageants and give her energy drinks with massive amounts of caffeine in, but this was happening before the show and would continue if it stopped tomorrow. It’s nowhere near perfect parenting, but it’s not the show’s fault.
On the other hand, one big gesture shows that June doesn't want this to be her daughter's life forever, with a large chunk of the profits of the show have been put into a college fund for Alana showing that she might actually mean the best for her daughter after all.
The show might be terrible and run right through the walls of exploitation, but it’s really hard to put the show in the same category as Geordie Shore or The Valleys, shows that glorify hedonistic drinking, fighting and not giving a damn about the cares of others. These are the shows that still stick in the craw, not the Honey Boo Boos of this world.
Don’t think of this as a commendation of the show by any stretch of the imagination. This is not quality TV. It might be awful and crass, but there are much worse things in the world than Honey Boo Boo Child though.
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