If the ratings success of the pop culture sensation “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” demonstrates anything, it’s the attraction of gawking at a train wreck is irresistible.

The reality TV show on TLC, which is a spin-off of another TLC show “Toddlers & Tiaras,” follows 6-year-old beauty pageant participant Alana Thompson—nicknamed Honey Boo Boo—and her family, self-proclaimed rednecks, in their native McIntyre, Georgia.

The show has garnered sizable ratings, with viewership besting even the broadcast of the final night of the Republican National Convention. Its first season finale aired on Sept. 26, and TLC has already announced plans for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas special episodes.

Although it tries to pass itself off as a show about an adorable little girl and her loving family, “Honey Boo Boo” portrays the family in a mocking tone and reinforces stereotypes of Southern people.

The show invites us to laugh at the behavior of the blue-collar Thompson family, which is made up of matriarch June Shannon, or “Mama,” Alana’s biological dad “Sugar Bear,” and June’s daughters by different fathers, “Pumpkin,” “Chubbs” and “Chickadee”—who is pregnant at 17. The opening credits show the family posing in front of their home, only to have Mama ruin the special moment by passing gas.

Amidst Alana’s endearing, sassy mannerisms, the family’s vulgar behavior makes up the bulk of the show. The first episode shows Mama washing her hair in a sink and the family attending the Redneck Games, an annual event in Southern Georgia celebrating Southern pride with competitions such as bobbing for pigs’ feet and belly flopping into mud pits. They snack on cheese balls right off the carpet. Mama is herself severely overweight at 309 pounds, and her recommendation to Chubbs, who wants to lose weight, is “if you fart 12-15 times a day, you could lose a lot of weight.”

“I think it definitely enforces the ‘dumb South’ stereotype,” said senior child development major Cristina Gonzalez.

The show emphasizes the freak show aspect by including subtitles for the sometimes-unintelligible dialogue.

“‘Honey Boo Boo’ is one of the most atrocious shows of all time,” said senior finance major Geqigula Dlamini. “It’s legalized child exploitation because kids should get a fair chance to grow (to) who they want to be,” and not something that is paraded around for public consumption.

There are moments of genuine sweetness in “Honey Boo Boo” when the tight bonds of the family are shown as they rally around Alana at beauty pageants and when “Sugar Bear” acts as a father figure to Alana’s sisters even though he is not their biological dad. Mama also has an unapologetic attitude, saying, “Like us or love us—we really don’t care.”

“They are who they are; they don’t try to be (people) they’re not,” said freshman criminal justice major Amaia Lesaca.

In a break from expectations about the South as conservative, the season finale sees Alana defending her gay uncle, whom she affectionately calls “Poodle,” by offering up this gem: “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with bein’ a little gay. Everybody’s a little gay.”

That spirit of family values and the departure from Southern stereotypes should be the focus of the show. However, it is clear TLC wants the show’s main drawing power to be based on a condescending fascination with the lower classes. In featuring a teenage pregnancy, the show’s producers appear to be saying, “Well, what else did you expect?”

TMZ has reported that the family has received a salary increase from TLC to receive about $15,000 to $20,000 per episode. It’s a sad commentary when trashy behavior lines one’s pockets.

It’s strange to think TLC originally stood for The Learning Channel and it was a network once known for running educational content, since its recent shows like “Tiaras,” “Sister Wives” and “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding” have been more concerned with courting controversy.

With its latest hit, TLC is not just asking audiences to point and laugh at its subjects, it is saying this pointing and laughing is acceptable in American culture. As “South Park” made clear in a recent episode that parodied the show, there is no end to lowering the bar.

 

Christine can be reached at: [email protected]