Exploitation shmexploitation

Ok so I'm supposed to be doing work on this Friday night in December but I was too distracted by thoughts of Bonanza. I was thinking about how there were all these claims of child exploitation inherent in this show. Well let me say I agree with the claim! But not for the reasons you might think. None of the kids we know and love/hate have been exploited (see: Taylor, Jared, Alex, and a few others). The lame-o kids who serve as PLOT devices are the kids being exploited.

In scripted shows, guest stars can be brought up to shake things up. Some classic examples of this might be Elizabeth Mitchell on "ER" turning Dr. Weaver into a lesbian, Mary-Louise Parker on "The West Wing," or like Bruce Willis on "Friends." Of course viewers REJECT these stunts when they are simply insults to our intelligence. Two examples come to mind: first when we were lead to believe that Paolo and Nikki were on the "Lost" island the entire time, and the inclusion of oil-crying wonder-twins on "Heroes."

What producers of "Kid Nation" realized was that if they had 40 kids they could simply insert lame kid #1 to help further the plot. As the season (series?) draws to a close, let's take a look back on some of the more memorable kids-as-plot-devices:

• Kennedy: Probably the scariest plot device of the season: Kennedy. She took it upon herself to show the other children the skills she learned in Special Ed. in a talent show that somehow convinced the porky, plucky Savannah not to leave. I mean, I know Savannah and Kennedy are from the same red state but who cares? Maybe they are most likely to be friends after the show is over. I guess that's highly possible as they're kind of social misfits. Aside from being mortified during Kennedy's "performance," she suddenly became relevant when she called her mom. Cell. Phone. Charm.
  
• Hunter: If he were an ice cream fstore, he would be Tasti D-Lite. This boy has no flavor. His biggest personality "trait" would be his loyalty to his dad? Pretty damn boring. I'm not sure what producers were trying to teach us in featuring this kid at all.
  
• Randi: She was not featured in that episode to show herself. She was featured to show us how her leaving would affect our beloved Taylor. When Randi leaves, Taylor wails, "She was like a sister to me!" In subsequent episodes she uses Randi's departure as an excuse for either doing something or not doing it. Now, I don't remember seeing this girl ever before the episode in which she left. If anyone is Taylor's sister it would be sidekick Leila and possibly adopted sister from the Orient, Kelsey.
  
• Cody: Let's stop kidding ourselves, Cody left the show because he has a serious addiction to..."root beer." After crying over his girlfriend who he had been going out with for a pretty long time (I guess? In proportion to how long he's been on earth?) he drowns his sorrows at the saloon. I don't know if this is something he saw in movies but I found it pretty disturbing that he turned to drink as soon as depression sunk in. The producers wanted to enlighten us not to how kids are people too but how kids are ALCOHOLICS too.
  
• Divad: In this multi-episode arc (maybe 2 episodes), Divad stars as a politician. First she sells free goods. I'll give the kid some credit because, let's face it, the profit she's making is unbelievable. Unlike Jared's business where he does work, Divad offers the kids the chance to put apples on a stick. If that's not one of the laziest ways to sell a free product then I don't know what is. She channeled her warped entrepreneurial skills into running for Gold-Star winner. If she really cared about changing this town we would see her front and center during challenges. Hell, she's in the RED district. She could have easily won against any of the red town council members save for DK. No, she'd rather walk away with $20,000 in gold, literally. She actually campaigned for it. This was to teach kids a lesson, I think, about not doing things for selfish reasons? Maybe I missed the lesson but I'm sure it will be written in a future past Pioneer Journal.
  
• Morgan: I don't even want to write about this. She just loves religion. 'Nuff said.