My absolute favorite show in middle school was The Osbournes. Whether you do or don't condone much profanity in your life or enjoy obscenity, you still have to admit this was one of the funniest reality TV shows MTV has ever had. It was also the realest of any family to appear on television at the time. It was a huge phenomenon and I still have seasons 1 & 2 somewhere in my closet on DVD. Also, the whole show was based around a family with an already famous father, Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness. Although there was pretty much a swear and a bleep at least every 5 minutes, you really saw this family behaving as their normal dysfunctional selves at home. At times I would think to myself "OMG. Did Sharon just really call Kelly a **** (Figure it out)?" They would exchange some of the most awful words to one another, but at the end of every segment their love for one another overcame the arguing. At least once every episode you would see the family together at some activity or event, still being dysfunctional, but always supportive of one another. Whether Ozzy called Jack a ****ing Idiot or told Sharon to **** Off, you just knew this family was not putting on an act or playing games.
The profanity was always censored, but it was just hilarious because everyone knew what they were really saying. I completely understand that the censoring is so children don't learn these words at a young age, but its still so blatantly offensive. It's just funny to me because a lot of people watched and enjoyed the show for several seasons, but no one ever really sat down and thought about the how this family was treating one another like viscious enemies. This could easily cause a child to act in these ways towards his parents. But many just don't really care or think about it. To me, it totally doesn't matter at all. If I ever have kids, I know sooner or later they're gonna be exposed to the world and learn these things. Why restrict them? Overall, I give The Osbournes an A+ for reality.
I do believe that this family actually cares for each other and loves each other and all of that good stuff. However, I think that a large portion of this show was embellished to make it more entertaining. There is no way that this family acted like this without the cameras around. Sure, there were probably a few swear words being tossed around, but never in the way that it was on the show. Would anyone really want to watch if it wasn't the way it was? I found the show somewhat entertaining and it was mostly because of the way they'd treat it each other. I just don't think (and hope) that they don't actually treat each other that way.
ReplyDeleteThere was another child that didn't want to be on camera, and the show was edited as if that child did not even exist...gotta love it! It was a classic case of "rebranding" for Ozzy...I guess the guy from Poison nicked a thing or two in the process, eh?
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