"What Would You Do?" ABC's Primetime Social Experiment
Or would you just walk away, because it is just none of your business?
This is just a couple of the scenarios that have already taken place on the new ABC reality show hosted by John Quiñones, "What Would You Do?
It's kind of like a Candid Camera blended with a social experimental twist. But, so far nothing has gotten out of hand.
One of the interesting methods that are used when portraying each segment is the replacement of different types of people in a segment. Would you get more excited if you saw a black guy obviously stealing a bike as opposed to a white guy? What about a very busty blonde girl stealing a dog? In all of these slices of life- it didn't seem to make a whole lot of difference.
The fascinating part comes up when Quinones let's the people who reacted (or didn't react) know that the scenario is just a television conduct test and that they are on camera! He then finds out why they reacted as they did (or did not).
Honestly, if a person is a people watcher and good observer most of the plots are pretty predictable, and sometimes Quinones jumps into the scene before he should. But, my guess is that he is trying to avert escalation into violence.
One of the actions I took while researching this article after watching several episodes was a simple visit to the web site. There, a viewer can come up with their own scenario and submit it as an idea for the show
Ok, how about this?
What would you do if you saw a person shoplifting in a grocery store? There would be a bunch of ways to run this segment. The person could be black, white or anything in-between. The person could be female with children, without children, or straggly looking or high maintenance. Or the person or persons could be a male transvestite.
This is kind of mild suggestion, really, don't you think?
So, if you saw someone trying to come up with a scenario for this show, what would you do?
Published by A Brewster Smythe
A Brewster Smythe, an environmental advocate and business writer, is the Founder of The Green ABC's,an award- winning green learning resource for kids of all ages. The Green ABC's tie a green term or con... View profile
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