I was disappointed with Andrew Bowman's article in Thursday's paper. His claim that television shows like Swamp People and Ice Road Truckers are "producer concocted" is baffling. Not only did the people in these shows actually have these professions long before they were the focus of a television show, in the case of Swamp People, it is a profession that their families have been involved in for generations.
His assertion that the people featured in Swamp People are "hillbillies, rednecks and trailer park trash" is offensive and stereotypical. The men and women who hunt alligators in the swamps of Louisiana are making a living for themselves and their families, and while they may not be as sophisticated or as well educated as Andrew, they don't deserve to be looked down upon because their way of life is different from his.
If Andrew wants to find shows that do not focus on learning on an educational channel, he could focus on TLC, The Learning Channel, which features such shows as Kate Plus 8, Long Island Medium and Toddlers and Tiaras. These shows, and many others on that channel, have little to no educational value, and are on television for the purposes of entertainment only.
Yet isn't that the purpose of television in the first place? To entertain?
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