TV: Kid Nation

[McCoy]

Forty pre-adolcscent children left in a Ghost Town with no adult supervision. What could possibly go wrong?

Anyone, anyone else, going to be watching for Post-Apoc plot seeds?

[Flames]

I wonder what happens if one of them breaks a leg or gets stung by a scorpion. Do they have medical supplies, provisions?

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/kid_nation/

[McCoy]

From what I hear, some do get some burns.

[Clonus]

I wonder what happens if one of them breaks a leg or gets stung by a scorpion. Do they have medical supplies, provisions?

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/kid_nation/

They weren't really devoid of adult assistance in case of emergency. After all, someone had to be operating those cameras.

[Michael Hopcroft]

One of the pioneering works of PA fiction (albeit on a smaller scale) was the classic, controversial The Lord of the Flies, where children separated from the civilizing influence of adults revert to their primal, sometimes bestial nature. It was a novel that horrified contemporary critics and moralists because it shattered notions of innocent, noble childhood that really wouldn't have survived an afternoon in the playground of an English Public School.

we are seeing similar controversy today over the controversial video game Bully, where the PC finds himself the last line of defense in the social and physical pecking order's desire to crush the lower rungs in the pecking order. It is one of the few Rockstar games where the PC is, if he plays it right, a true hero -- a defender of the downtrodden -- yet the publishers endured nightmarish criticism even before it came out.

My personal experience is that the capacity of children for mindless, thoughtless cruelty is virtually infinite. I imagine it is part of the Darwinist impulse to be the fittest by dragging down your adversaries. But for a society to be sustainable there needs to be a limit.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Forty pre-adolescent children left in a Ghost Town with no adult supervision. What could possibly go wrong?

Anyone, anyone else, going to be watching for Post-Apoc plot seeds?

It would probably be a pretty long list, especially if there really were no adults in the area to restrain things.

Humans are, in a sense, a hierarchical people. Even those who are not at the top try to seek a niche in which they can be of some use and survivie. Now imagine the previous hierarchies gone completely and a new one needs to be established by people who have absolutely no practical skills or experiences. Even if they find a pre-existing shelter (like said ghost town), how will they gain the needed survival skills to make it through a year (including the winter) and determine who makes important decisions.

The one really good set of sequences in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was the group of children bravely yet pathetically trying to hold onto the idea of community in the absence of anyone else who cares whether they live or die. watching no-longer -functioning TV was replaced by a daily ritual of "Doing the Tell", where a ceremonial 'screen" made of sticks and branches is passed around the circle and each person states the most important events that have faced them. In the middle of a violent, cynical movie there was something incredibly moving about this simple act of desperate hope and courage.

[Lamrok]

My personal experience is that the capacity of children for mindless, thoughtless cruelty is virtually infinite. I imagine it is part of the Darwinist impulse to be the fittest by dragging down your adversaries. But for a society to be sustainable there needs to be a limit.

That completely depends on the kids involved, just the same as with adults. Some ring leaders are all-inclusive good guys. Some are sadistic bullies. I've seen both in the groups my kids run with. A lot of it just depends on the personality of the kid who winds up calling the shots. Kids aren't that different from adults as far as that goes, they're just a bit less refined in how they act.

[McCoy]

The one really good set of sequences in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was the group of children bravely yet pathetically trying to hold onto the idea of community in the absence of anyone else who cares whether they live or die. watching no-longer -functioning TV was replaced by a daily ritual of "Doing the Tell", where a ceremonial 'screen" made of sticks and branches is passed around the circle and each person states the most important events that have faced them. In the middle of a violent, cynical movie there was something incredibly moving about this simple act of desperate hope and courage.
That sceen was brilliant, and somehow far more believeable than the rest of the movie.

[McCoy]

Watched the pilot.

Lot more adult structure than the promos suggested.

[Rubric]

Watched the pilot.

Lot more adult structure than the promos suggested.

Yeah, true. I liked it, though, and plan on watching it.

The only thing that really bugged me -- when the girl won the gold star, they just happened to have a camera crew at her mom's house....

[Maur]

They could have had a crew at several of the houses, or edited it in Post to make it appear like the crew was there and waiting. This is a reality show that was filmed months ago and then went into the can for editing.

[Dr. Confoundo]

Yeah, true. I liked it, though, and plan on watching it.

The only thing that really bugged me -- when the girl won the gold star, they just happened to have a camera crew at her mom's house....
Well, during the pilot there were really only two potential nominees for the gold star; the girl who took charge in the kitchen, and the boy who made the impassioned speeches. The narative of each episode will probably be pretty clear on who might be getting the star in each episode, and it won't be too hard to get a camera crew near them.

In addition, while the girl appeared to go directly from the meeting to call her mom, there's no way to know how much time passed between those two events. Heck, it could have been the next day.