MMH Demonstrates Dangers of Judging A Show By Its Hype

People who live in different worlds have to live in the same house.

Did you know that there are practicing vampires in the United States? Or that the Wiccan religion is sometimes called "witchcraft"? And why, exactly, do nudists like being naked?

SCI FI invites you to experience life around the edges, in the colliding worlds of its newest alternative-reality series, Mad Mad House.

With the above advertising SciFi demonstrated the dangers of snap judgements. Five practitioners of "alternative lifestyles" — Fiona the Witch, Avocado the Naturist, Don The Vampire, Art the Modern Primitive, and Ta'Shia the Voodoo Priestess (known collectively as the Alts) — rule the roost. Meanwhile, 10 ordinary folks (Loana, Kelly, Brent, Bonnie, Eric, Tim, Nicole, Jamie, Noel, and Tamin who was evicted in the first week) move into the House as the Alts' Guests — and compete against one another for the $100,000 jackpot.

The Guests will live out a Survivor meets The Real World meets The Osbournes lifestyle — and try to get along living under one roof together. The eclectic and unpredictable Alts will challenge them, judge them and eliminate them one by one — ultimately deciding which Guest is most fit for life in the Mad Mad House. The goal of the Alts appears to be to encourage others to grow past their own preconceived prejudices against the rare and unusual. Guests feel they  have to learn to placate this Pocket Pagan society in the same manner that Pagans feel they must placate the mundane society the Guests represent. How the winner is really going to be determined remains to be seen over the next nine weeks, but the inferred method is by keeping the Alts impressed and that may be a lot harder than it looks.

The Guests are just as heavily stereotyped as the Alts are, but that is the nature of the parable style of storytelling and MMH is but a modern parable being acted out among 15 people in front of a camera to demonstrate one example of what might happen if the judgments of a society change radically; these ten people have been temporarily removed from the society that they understand and thrown into one in which the rules require them to look past the surface images they are presented.

As you would expect, there are some folks that are willing to do anything for the money; ethics, moral code, and budding friendships among the guests will evaporate in the face of the final goal of $100,000. In the first week we saw Brent promise Tamin that he "had his back" in the tiebreaking eviction vote, only to vote for Tamin's eviction when faced with the choice of voting for either his new friend, or Pretty Loana whose pants Brent would love to investigate; stange show of moral integrity from a man who claims to be a devout Christian who "wishes everyone was Christian".

Even the Pagan community reacted first to their perceived prejudices against mainstream media's past portrayal of Pagans in their harsh judgments of  MMH prior to its première. Pagans across the Internet posted petitions to try and get SciFi to cancel the show long before it aired, and many Pagans who informed those around them that they had applied to be on the show were blasted for supporting what many saw as yet another way to make Pagans look like freaks. WWPN founder Beige Allen, who applied for consideration on the show, saw the potential of the show from the first moment she heard about it:

"Anyone that thinks that Pagans can look any worse in the media than we already do is living in a state of complete denial. We are often assumed to be overweight housebound societal misfits who take role playing games and fantasy stories way too seriously. Despite the opinions of many in the Pagan community towards this show, it seems Sci Fi is looking for those who have made successes out of alternative lifestyles and for that alone I applaud them for their willingness to show that it's time to look at our standards in society and what we have really accomplished rather than how we look in the photo album."-Beige Allen

MMH presents several Pagan paths as well as lifestyles that are Pagan in their styling (Avocado's room is as much a sacred space as Ta'Shia's or Fiona's) in a way that will present Paganistic beliefs in a more positive way than any previous source. The Alts are not trying to be representatives of all Vamps, Wiccans, Voodoo followers, Naturists, and Modern Primitives; they are but five examples of a very large community. When asked about the Alts SciFi chose, WWPN Founder Beige Allen commented:

"Of course I am disappointed that I didn't get chosen for the show, but I cannot fault any of the choices SciFi made for the Alts.  They were choosing for a TV show which means they wanted to present a look that would capture as much interest as possible. I absolutely love the costumes the Alts have worn so far and am curious as to how many of the costumes are provided by the show and how many were provided by the Alts themselves. I hope that this encourages the Pagan community to become more interested in dressing ourselves up."

The bulletin boards for the show are demonstrating that acceptance is growing to be the new norm in society as in the following posts:

First, let me say that I am a devout Catholic. I was insulted by those guests who would not participate in Ta'Shia's challenge, stating that they were Christian and not comfortable participating. I don't believe they are secure enough in their belief or open-minded enough to learn about another culture. I think that Ta'Shia, Fiona, Don, and the rest of the "Alts" are beautiful, interesting people. Don't get me wrong, I am not passing judgment, as I have no place to. And for those who don't know, Catholics can also be Wiccans, or Vampires, or whatever else they want to be without leaving their own religion.

I believe that the modern primitive and the naturist as well as the Wiccan are well spoken and intelligent examples of their respective beliefs. I believe that they will have the greatest impact on the contestants and how they view others of an alternative lifestyle.

At the same time it causes people to re-examine some of their own prejudices about people. Kelly, another guest, has to face her own issue of low self esteem as well as many of her notions of "purity" and "propriety" for when she is chosen to spend the night with Avocado she must ever remember that since it's "his room" it's "his rules". Living in a convent she is quite used to thinking of a home as a "sacred space" now she is being shown there are more ways to make a space sacred than she previously realized.

This is a situation in which the Guests have to find some way to accept the Alternatives in their hope that the Alternatives will reward them. They cannot afford the "luxury" of their prejudice if they want to win. Ultimately, the show will also test the judgments of the viewers as well. The day after the premiere, Noel the janitor is the viewer pick for most likely to be evicted next and Kelly is the view pick for most likely to be the Final Guest in MMH. Only the next 9 weeks will tell