After reading a bit more about Secret Millionaire, I was surprised to see how widely criticized the premise of the show was. Many bloggers and respected media companies (CNN) have commented on the twisted nature of the show, or at least use it as a jump-off for speaking about wealth distribution inequality.
I wonder why the millionaire’s wealth must remain undisclosed to the charities that he is helping until the end of the show. Obviously part of it is for dramatic irony; for this show to make it into a coveted Sunday night time slot, it has to be able to stir up some emotion in its audience. But also, are the producers of the show questioning the altruism of these charitable organizations and those who run them? Secret Millionaire seems to be implying that if the charitable organizations were to know about the wealth of the millionaire and/or the premise of the show, they would behave differently throughout. Does Secret Millionaire suspect that the representatives of the charities would inflate their operating costs or make this short-term volunteer extra-aware of how much their budget has been recently cut? Does Secret Millionaire suspect that the representatives of the charities would try to overplay the importance of their organizations do get a bigger chunk of cash than the other local charities that they are all of the sudden in a competition with? Not only is this offensive, but also I think that the organizations doing the most good are more in need of volunteers, enthusiasm and support than a one-time donation. I’m beginning to see why there are accusations being made toward Secret Millionaire.
In class we said that Secret Millionaire sends an unhealthy message to America: “help others and as a reward, maybe, Secret Millionaire will come to your City.” This reminds me of a point made during the debate concerning Turkey’s accession into the European Union. We were speaking about Turkey acting as a nearly neutral bridge to the Middle East, and its role as a role model to Middle Eastern countries without successful democracies. If Turkey becomes part of the European Union, we may send the unhealthy message that maintaining a successful democracy will be rewarded with accession into the EU is equated with being Western and not Middle Eastern. Likewise, struggling charitable organizations that survive on people who want to “have a stake” and the “stakeless” people that they help should not be shown examples of divine millionaires descending from the heavens of Billionaire Boulevard down to the slums of 8-mile road to give seemingly generous gifts. If anything, America’s “stakeless” masses need to be shown examples of charities that are driven by passionate people and make real differences. For the sake of authenticity, these examples should struggle financially and be in desperate need of volunteers. It should be made clear that these operations struggle a direct result of millions of people being unaware of the serious poverty issues that plagues the United States (and everywhere else).
We shouldn’t be so quick to blame the millionaires for taking part in the show, because at first glance it seems like a good thing to be a part of. A wealthy hedge fund manager has been wanting to address the problems of wealth inequality that he is contributing to but doesn’t know how. He hears about a show where he is given a chance to give back in an exciting hands-on way. A man of his background wouldn’t think to analyze the situation anymore and kindly signs up. How unfortunate it is that the people who make the most money are in business and other fields of direct economic practicality— fields whose training and practice require no real contemplation of mortality, morality, the human condition, philosophy, and the social problems of the world. I do think we can a little bit more safely bemoan the heartlessness of the shows producers, though.
It would be misleading of my feelings about the show to only speak of its negative impacts in this reaction. There is something to be said about the effects of those warm and fuzzy feelings that we were resisting in class. Many people are as ignorant to the more secondary effects of the show as the aforementioned businessman and after watching, they experience nothing but a genuine feeling that they also want to help out.
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