Marion's Open Salon Blog

Marion Stein

Marion Stein
New York, New York
January 01

MAY 23, 2012 10:36AM

Palin-lite's New Reality

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Exciting news, Bristol Palin's "much anticipated" new reality show, Life's a Tripp, will be premiering in June on Lifetime.

The program will show Palin-lite's day-to-day struggles as a single mom. Palin-Lite has "dedicated her life to being an advocate for the prevention of teen pregnancy." Of course, she has it much easier than most single teenage mothers who barely graduate high school at age 19 (although saying so probably constitutes class warfare).  Her speaker fees range up to $30,000 a shot. She has appeared on previous reality ventures, plus Dancing with the Stars, and her memoir (published when she was twenty) was briefly a New York Times bestseller.

So what exactly will this show do to "prevent" teen pregnancy? How exactly does she not glamorize it? In addition to financial security without really having to work much, she is also blessed with a supportive family and a healthy child. There really couldn't be a stronger advocate out there for teen motherhood. She's made a career of it.

The premise of Life's a Tripp really doesn't sound very different from any number of "reality" shows about privileged young women, except for the baby part. If Bristol really wants to show the reality of having a baby while you're still in high school, why not actually live it -- the way most teen mothers do in real life?

Here's an idea for the producers: Give Bristol a makeover -- a new hair color and style, maybe even throw in a mole or something temporary to change her appearance. Change her name. Send her out in the world without ghost writers or handlers and take the fancy speaker gigs and television appearances off her resume. Take away her money too. Okay, to be fair you could give her two grand to start off. Let her rent a place with that and make a budget and a plan. What suspense! Let's see how far a girl with a toddler with no college or training can go! I'm sure her gumption and optimism will help her succeed. Then we can watch her handle a budget, somehow figure out how to pay food, rent and childcare on minimum wage. Will she need government assistance? Not, our Bristol. It'll be so exciting to tune each week and find out what Bristol will do next.

And, if you really want some drama, how about Bristol Palin in Trading Places? A non-celebrity teen mom who is surviving on minimum wage could switch with Palin-lite. It would be a Cinderella story, but one based on merit where viewers could vote to decide which one gets to be America's sweetheart and keep the fancy house, which one is most qualified to speak to struggling teens.

I'm sure Bristol would win. After all, it's her talent, abilities and hard work that have gotten her to where she is today.

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Oh so great! You hit it right on the head. Perfect timing and cadence. Reality is so illusive.
Here's an idea for the producers: spend your time and $$ on TV shows worth watching. Not since Roseanne was so much in the news for so many other tasteless discussions has a trashy, ignorant, oportunistic family like the Palins managed to capture so much brainless attention and the money that flows from it.