Kid Nation - When Growing Up Is Hard - Guylan Speaks

Photo of the "Pioneers" of Kid Nation. Guylan: Age 11 lays-in-wait at the back of the hall to time his move (he is the one in the knit cap next to the kid with the black hair). Image Credit: Kid Nation (Manhattan Project) - CBS

Kid Nation - When Growing Up Is Hard - Guylan Speaks

Kid Nation is an interesting concept IF it were as advertised ... but it is not.

The producers want you to believe that NO ADULTS are involved in the way these volunteer kids (at $5,000 apiece if they stay - and the possibility of a $20,000 Gold Star if they are liked by others) decide the influences of their Bonanza village experience.

This just is not true. In every episode, a new twist is introduced via a faked up town journal known as the Pioneer Journal that the producers represent to the viewing audience and to the kids as being left behind by the original members of the Town Council of Bonanza City of 1885. The Pioneer Journal is a pure invention of the producers on which they base the episodes events.

This week is the episode we all (the viewing audience) are introduced to the wild card kid of the bunch – Guylan: Age 11.

To really understand why this show needs Guylan: Age 11 is to begin to understand that a group of kids usually find their own way without much confrontation. Most kids want to conform because they would like to feel they are a part of something bigger than themselves … but not Guylan: Age 11. Guylan: Age 11 is a professed admirer of Fidel Castro and he is an atheist.

The producers need him on which to build interest and drama because he does not feel anyone else – no person, no higher power, no higher natural order, no other power of people – nothing is more important to ones destiny than oneself.

Guylan: Age 11 is finally introduced to the viewing audience in the first minutes of episode #104 (the fourth episode). His first words are as follows:

“Really? What? That’s understandable, yeah.”

Producer’s video diary with Guylan: Age 11 –

“Personally, I don’t want religion to be a large part of my own destiny. I think the only person in charge of your own destiny is yourself.”

Reading of the "Pioneer Journal". - Image Credit: Kid Nation (Manhattan Project) - CBS

The producers purposely placed this dialog and video diary in front of the reading of the Pioneer Journal because it became a little less inflammatory as it relates to the subject dictated by the producers via this episode’s reading of the “1885 Pioneer Journal” - RELIGION!

This episode was designed to challenge the way each of these kids were raised – their perceptions, their customs, their ethics, their religion, their culture – all of which had been passed down to them with varying degrees of success by these kids parents.

This excerpted/edited from the Kid Nation website –

Bless Us And Keep Us Safe
[episode #104 recap]

Religion and issues of faith are on the minds of many of Kids in Bonanza City.

While Morgan poses the question of whether God brought the Kids to Bonanza City for a reason, Jared shares with Guylan how he has been called terrible things because he is Jewish.

At breakfast, Colton, Eric, Zach, and some other Kids get into a heated discussion over Christianity and Judaism.

Religious and political strife come to Bonanza City when the Council dictates that all of the Kids attend a group religious service [the idea as dictated to the Council through the 1885 town journal]. When the Towns Kids refuse to attend the service, the Council Leaders are left disappointed.

As Kids of different faiths bicker with each other, it seems as though the town might fracture until Morgan unites the arguing groups by holding a relaxed town bonfire where Kids of different faiths bond together in common prayer.
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“Do you think God put us here for a reason?”
[episode #104 producers narrative detail]

Religion and issues of faith are on the minds of many of Kids in Bonanza City. While Morgan poses the question of whether God brought the Kids to Bonanza City for a reason, Jared shares with Guylan how he has been called terrible things because he is Jewish. At breakfast, Colton, Eric, Zach, and some other Kids get into a heated discussion over Christianity and Judaism.

After bringing a little law and order to Bonanza City in the form of a town curfew, Anjay, Laurel, Mike and Taylor are nervous to see what the Pioneer Journal says next. Their next challenge presents itself in the form of a passage about the Pioneers’ problems with religion in the 1880s. The Journal suggests the Town hold religious services to feed the soul, but the Council must decide whether to hold one large service for all religions, or to split the services up by religion.
Reference Here>>

This sequence-of-events are not natural. Religion and bigotry do not pop-up out of nowhere. Kids generally do not ask about ones religion unless the subject is introduced. Enter the Pioneer Journal!

It is easy to notice right away that the producers do not want facts to get in the way of the drama – where is video journal dialog from Guylan: Age 11 in the preceeding text? Where are the attitude and beliefs of Guylan: Age 11 in the opening scene description?

NOWHERE!

The reading of the Pioneer Journal and the casting are the tools by which Kid Nation will eventually “TEACH” the viewing public what the producers want to “TEACH” the viewing public. The truth about Kid Nation is that this effort is not about the kids … it is about what the producers want to “TEACH” the viewing public.

What we need to be taught is that religion is what kills all humanity!

What we need to be taught is that a simple religious service is not that simple.

What we need to be taught is (inadvertently) fear and selfishness come from ignorance and the lack of a defined and developed spiritual core belief.

So, Okay, Jonathan, the Jeff Probst wanna-be non-ADULT organizer of the district (team) showdown (competitions), opens up the scene with this quote:

“Pioneers, gather up! It’s time for your next showdown.”

“You guys have thought a lot about religion, lately, and that is part of what this showdown is about.”

Who introduced the subject of religion to these kids and their experience at Bonanza City in the first place? (the producers)

The showdown is about to begin and we are treated to another video diary entry by none other than Guylan: Age 11 ... and he says:

“I want that dang reward! I don’t know what it is, but I want the reward!

The showdown is completed by all districts in the allotted time so the reward is earned, however it comes down to a Town Council choice between a miniature golf course set up in the middle of town.

Cut To Guylan: Age 11 in video diary:

Bingo! Coooool! (in excitement)

Or a library of “Holy Books” (Torah, Bible, Koran, Hindi text, and etc.).

The Town Council did what all great leadership organizations do – they abdicated their decision to a vote of the rest of the kids of Bonanza City.

To the surprise of most of the kids, the kids voted to have as a reward the religious text. They were able to be entertained way beyond a simple game of miniature golf.

Last excerpt from the Kid Nation website –

Morgan (green bandana) leads pioneer kids in Bonanza City in a group prayer meeting. The Town Council takes note of Morgan’s leadership and continuing hard work for Bonanza City, awarding her the fourth Gold Star. Image Credit: Kid Nation (Manhattan Project) - CBS

“That’s a lot of buffalo nickels.”

The Kids wipe away tears as they mourn Cody’s departure from Bonanza City, but the mood in the Town Hall quickly brightens when the Council selects Morgan as the fourth Gold Star Pioneer! Overwhelmed with gratitude, Morgan tells the other Kids, “I think that I have the best friends in the world and I’ll never leave you, I promise.” Everyone is happy for Morgan as all of the Kids applaud the success of the kind girl from the Green District.

Morgan excitedly calls her Mom and Dad with her wonderful news; her parents are proud of her accomplishment, but are mainly overjoyed just to hear her voice. Morgan’s Dad says, “I would think that Morgan got the Gold Star because of her helpfulness. That’s just who she is.”
Reference Here>>

Guylan: Age 11 is shown again for one last time in a preview as the voice over describes the focus of the next episode – Politics!

With great conviction and determination, Guylan: Age 11 states in yet another video diary:

“It’s time for a change!”

We, at MAXINE, believe that there is a larger power working here and it is the agenda of the production staff of Kid Nation. We can not wait to see what we know is coming.

Kid Nation – When Growing Up Is Hard – The Contract

Contract For The Manhattan Project (project name for Kid Nation) - No Human Rights In "Kid Nation" - No liability for CBS in controversial "ghost town" reality series. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks copyright 2007 - ht: The Smoking Gun

Kid Nation – When Growing Up Is Hard – The Contract

The unreal nature of “Reality Television” has its drawbacks, especially when the premise is really to break down authority and make political points.

The length that some producers will go in order to, in their own mind (I can only imagine), make a point and “make a difference” brinks upon a “Wizard Of OZ” scenario where the Wizard of Emerald City pulled levers while the target audience remained on the other side of the curtain to be marveled and influenced through the illusion.

Kid Nation, which is set to air on CBS on September 19, 2007, presents itself as a case study of this unreal nature of reality television.

First off, the program bills itself as having the Kids take over a failed “Ghost Town” in New Mexico … this is only very partially correct. The truth is that the producers were able to find a location that was not too far a distance from Santa Fe, New Mexico where previous production companies had built a functional and working western town near the ruins of a real ghost town to be used for theatrical movie and television productions.

Secondly, the producers state that these Kids may be able to show us all how not to make the mistakes the previous occupants of the town made (ostensibly why the town became a ghost town in the first place), all without the influence of adults. We all know that the production staff and the behind-the-scenes support are adults and further, we know intuitively that when one brings a whole group of humans together, influence happens – GET REAL! This statement doesn’t even factor in the influence of the structure of the production plot itself as in the awarding of a real gold star (estimated to be worth $20,000) at the end of each weekly episode – who created this structure in the first place … Kids?

The entertainment reviewers have seized on another one of the most glaring points of the unreal nature of reality television and that would be … The Contract. That is the employment contract that the parents of the kids had to sign before the production was to begin. After all, the producers had to protect themselves from the people that did the work but remained, contractually, on the other side of the curtain.

Children cooking on an old-fashioned stove on the "Kid Nation" set. Image Credit: Kid Nation (The Manhattan Project) - CBS

Excerpts from the Chicago Tribune –

How CBS went wrong with 'Kid Nation'
By Maureen Ryan - The Watcher - Originally posted: September 4, 2007

One of the most chilling documents to come down the pike in a while is the contract parents of participants in "Kid Nation" signed.
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"Kid Nation" is now under investigation by New Mexico authorities, who are looking into whether producers broke any laws during the show's filming in that state a few months ago.

Though CBS denies any wrongdoing and has said that the making of the show did not violate any laws, some "Kid Nation" participants -- all of whom were between the ages of 8 and 15 -- were injured during the course of the filming, according to news reports. A few young participants accidentally drank bleach, one kid sprained an arm and one child sustained a burn from hot grease.

The kicker? The parents of these kids had to sign a contract saying they would not sue over anything that might happen to their kids -- up to and including death.

According to the document posted on TheSmokingGun.com, the parents were told, via the contract they signed, that the show was "inherently dangerous" and could expose their children to "uncontrolled hazards and conditions that may cause serious bodily injury, illness or death." The parents had to relinquish all legal claims on CBS if anything did happen to their children. Oh, and unless the families stick to the terms of a confidentiality agreement that the network is still enforcing, they could be liable for a $5 million penalty.

All for a $5,000 "stipend," which is what most kids got for participating in the show. (Some kids got an additional $20,000 if they won competitions within the show.)

By my calculation, many of the kids who participated in the show -- if they did work 14-hour days for 40 days -- got less than $9 an hour.

No wonder the broadcast networks aren't about to give up on reality TV, despite its relatively lackluster performance of late; the genre is not exactly bankrupting them.
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That ominous contract language flies in the face of CBS' attempts to bill "Kid Nation" as a happy-go-lucky "summer camp" experience.

“In order for a reality show … to really get out there and change the landscape of television, you have to sort of stir public debate,” CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler said about “Kid Nation” at a press event in July. “We know we're going to create some controversy. … But I think the whole objective was to get out there, do something different, and try and reach out and have people talk about the show, which is what's happening.”

Yes, but at this point, the "Kid Nation" debate centers on how children were used to create an entertainment property for CBS, a network that plans to charge big bucks for "Kid Nation" commercial spots. The network could have done some things to prevent the "Kid Nation" buzz from going sour, but they would have cost money. And cutting corners when kids are involved -- that's not courting controversy, that's risking condemnation.

The fact is, the kids on the show should have been covered by entertainment-union contracts that would have protected their interests, limited the hours they could work and guaranteed appropriate on-set medical care and supervision.

Even if all that had been done, in my opinion, CBS shouldn't have used performers under 12. The idea that an 8-year-old could realistically consent to this kind of experience doesn't really fly.

And I hesitate to think of what these kids will think of the way they're edited. It's one thing for a contestant on "Survivor" to feel they were made to look villainous or stupid; it's quite another for a 5th grader to face the entire school after having been made to look foolish on national TV.

But maybe what the middle school critics -- or grown-up critics -- think of "Kid Nation" won't really matter in the end. After all, CBS is, as of press time, soliciting applications for "Kid Nation 2" on its Web site.
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