Fetishizing Money

So did anyone watch this past Monday's episode of Deal or No Deal? It was this guy from Arkansas that was apparently dubbed as an entrepeneur? But he was living in the basement of his sister and brother-in-law's house. Anyway he came across as gullible and annoying and by the end of the night walked out with $10 after turning down a high of $218,000. His sister I could tell was livid as all hell as she kept telling dude to take deal after deal and dude kept pushing his luck till it ran out. Worse yet her husband kept telling him to keep going. I know girlfriend was ready to smack both of them after that show ended.

I bet if Eugene had seen that episode, he would've witnessed one of the realest family relationships on the show (at least once dude won $10). When I was in Boston the weekend before, we were watching an episode of the popular NBC gameshow.

Eugene started going into one of his imfamous rants about society. He pointed out how family members that were on the show were probably hating on a given contestant until said contestant made it on the show. He ranted how the husband of a recent contestant probably had countless affairs behind his wife's back yet called her 'the love of his life' when being introduced on the show. How a woman would shout 'she's my bestest friend in the entire world' when just the day before the contestant may have backstabbed her.

His point was that the extended families were only saying things in the hopes that they get a cut of the money in the event a player wins big. In theory, he's probably right. All families do have their own issues so in likelihood there probably were conflicts taking place prior to them being on the show.

He also said that TV shows like Deal or No Deal encourages what he calls the 'fetishizing of money' at no cost. Basically the show puts the idea that money is the answer to everyone's problems. Who cares if Billy Bob was sleeping with the contestant's sister. There's no love lost because they can get some money and is encouraging kids to aspire to be on a game show for some easy money.

His ranted about the lack of interest a lot of his students have in trying to learn about societial issues instead focusing on making a quick buck. He feels shows such as these contribute to this phenomenon.

Eugene was to me being a bit extreme and seemed to rebuff my suggestions that maybe not everybody falls into that same belief. When he gets into his rants, he makes valid points but he tends to not see things from the other side of the coin. It's like he's basically saying it's his way or the highway.

The way I see it (and I may go into a digression...but umm I do that often...*LOL*) is that most folks I know don't want to spend the rest of their lives doing menial tasks with little pay and always having to struggle to make ends meet. Even those like me who are making decent wages don't want to always have the stress and aggravation said jobs give. Of course there are those who thrive on said stress. And of course most folks probably won't think to apply on Deal or No Deal but people will look for ways to try and get ahead.

While money shouldn't be the end all, be all of things, the accumulation of wealth is one way folks can try and better their lot in life. And I believe that unfortunately everybody can't be extremely wealthy and there will be a need for folks that do the menial jobs. If Deal or No Deal provides some sort of escapism for folks, then I don't see the harm (though the show is contributing to the dumbing of America...but that's yet another side rant that can come out of this debate).

Besides most folks I know wouldn't want to air their dirty secrets to all of America so even if family members do hate each other in real life, they'll likely keep the hate on the low until the cameras stop rolling.

But nonetheless he does bring an interesting point to the table. And I like the way the word fetishizing sounds so freaky. But maybe it's just cause I'm a freak.