This past Saturday morning I woke up but hadn’t really woken up yet, so I went to the website www.Hulu.com (a perfectly legal site) to catch up on some of the episodes of The Office that I’ve missed (GOD I love that show). There was an advertisement for the season premiere of a show called “Secret Millionaire” that some unnamed force told me to click on and watch. Here’s the premise (keep in mind that this is a Fox show):
“SECRET MILLIONAIRE is a dramatic unscripted series that takes viewers out of their comfort zones and into the heart of America’s social issues.

Each week, one of the wealthiest Americans, worth millions of dollars, will go undercover into one of the most impoverished and dangerous towns in America. Their job is to spend one week canvassing the town – meeting as many people as possible – some of whom will touch the millionaire with their dedication to helping others while others will have incredible stories of trying to overcome tremendous odds. On the final day, the Secret Millionaire meets with the chosen recipients and reveals his/her true identity and intentions – to give them a sum of money that is going to change their lives forever.
SECRET MILLIONAIRE will engage viewers in important social issues, extol the virtues of volunteerism and change the lives of disadvantaged people – and the philanthropists who helped them – in unexpected ways.”

The main character of this first episode is a guy who made his millions in the housing foreclosure business. At the beginning of the episode he brags, “Business is really good right now.” With him on his week long journey is his son, a twenty-something heartthrob that I’m sure viewers across America didn’t mind watching perform minimum wage construction work.

This millionaire and his son live for a week in a crappy apartment and easily find a job doing construction work for a woman who used to be homeless. At the end of the show the millionaires reveal the big lie and their true identities. They give her a large sum of money, $25,000 I believe.

At the supermarket they meet a woman who runs a home for struggling families. They visit the house and talk to a boy who lived in his mother’s van. They give this woman a check as well, and the kids in the house a car full of toys.

At a convenience store they see a donation can for a girl who has cancer whose family doesn’t have health insurance. They visit the family at their house and listen to the father’s story about not being able to pay. They end up giving this family a ton of money, as well. Either $25,000 or $50,000, I can’t remember.
Sounds not so bad, but I’m terribly cynical. Aside from how much footage is definitely edited and scripted for television, I’m bothered by a few things: how come these millionaires are only helping a couple of people? Do they go back to their mansions at the end of the show and resume their lives just as before, or do they commit to helping others in a greater way?
The bit of good I saw in the show was how much attention was actually given to the people along the way who have had these horrible things happen to them: homelessness, disease, poverty, all over the spectrum. The segments devoted to each of those people are nice little monuments to their struggle…but of course, it’s not nearly enough to make it all okay, which is what the show seems to want to do. If these millionaires can just help out a few people, everyone’s spirits will be uplifted by these moments of generosity. But it’s so clearly, clearly not enough…
BUT! Does the show bring into the livingrooms of families across America the problems that so much of America faces, hereby actually helping to increase awareness of these problems, even if not through the best medium…reality TV? Instead of a Reality TV show about Paris Hilton’s lavish lifestyle, the Secret Millionaire equivalent of Paris Hilton would go to live on the streets in Flint, Michigan. Thus, Paris Hilton unwittingly imparts to her fans the need to be more generous and less obsessed with stuff. (Paris Hilton isn’t on this show, but you get the idea).
And who is the show REALLY about? The millionaires? Or the “ordinary people” who are struggling? I couldn’t tell from the first episode.
Let’s hear what you think: Is this show total crap? Do you see some merit in it? Is it better than nothing? (Or better than other Reality TV out there?)
Here is the link for the Hulu video if you feel so inclined to watch some possibly unmindful TV, mindfully, of course.