Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Toddlers & Tiaras is not a show I would choose to watch on a normal day, but I had a couple of abnormal ones last week while I was down in bed with some joint pain, so I moseyed on over to YouTube and watched an episode out of curiosity, boredom, and a desire to see something more painful than my shouders. Nothing cures pain like the chance to stare at a train wreck for an hour and thank the heavens your own childhood didn't involve outrageously teased hair and crazy makeup. (And I grew up in the 80s!)

This show is a sad, sad indictment of pageant moms and an even sadder chronicle of the effect this kind of thing has on some of these kids. I'm not anti-pageant. I once judged a pageant and found myself impressed by the poise and talent of the girls who participated. But these were teenagers. And they looked like normal people. And they were competing for money for school. And their moms weren't allowed in the judges area.

I was delighted to see that, so shortly after I watched my first episode of this show, Tom Hanks decided to film a spoof. He and "Sophie" (the adorable girl is an actress named Nikki Hahn) compete their guts out for the chance at a trophy. I've laughed my guts out each time I've watched it.


1 comments:

Alison Moore Smith said...

I'm totally anti-pageant! And I paid for a bunch of college with pageant money. :D

I've judged Junior Miss at local and state level and actually like that pageant, and I did Miss America, which used to be not-so-objectionable.

Really though, I'm anti-pageant for minors. Creepers.

Still, this vid is hilarious. Sadly, I've actually seen that show a couple of times. Train wreck it is.