The TLC show, Breaking Amish, appears to be "Faking Amish" if various reports are to be believed.
As I've said in previous posts, I don't think TV and the Amish are necessarily a bad mix. I think there can, and has been, good TV, even great TV, about the Amish. But this show doesn't deliver.
I've watched the first two episodes and my main observation is that the characters are all outliers, meaning they don't appear to me to represent the typical "Amish experience." That's likely because someone very dedicated and committed to their Amish faith probably aren't going to agree to schlep around New York City indulging in all the things their religion teaches them they shouldn't. (I will say, that a "typical Amish experience" is a very broad term, because the Amish are a much more diverse group than meets the eye, but these people are all on the outer bounds of even the most atypical Amish)
I am going to leave the accusations of "cast fraud" to other people, because I don't know the show's participants, etc. To me, the parts that were the most implausible were ones that just didn't gibe with my own Amish experience, experience that encompasses spending time in Amish settlements from Maine to Montana.There were scenes that struck me simply as not credible.
As far as "staged" goes, everyone needs to take a step back. "Reality TV" does not mean that cameramen (or women) parachute into someone's life and just follow them around, capturing them blowing their nose or clipping their toenails. Such shows would be boring as heck, and I'm not sure - in the network's defense - anyone has ever said these shows are unplanned. They are largely unscripted, but not unplanned. The shows have to be somewhat structured. That said, there was a scene when 32-year-old Abe looks at a microwave, looks puzzled, and declares that "It's gotta be some kind of cooker of some kind." While that is an amusing line, I found it not credible based on my own experience (and if somehow I'm wrong, I'll trumpet it here). While I think it is plausible (unlikely, but plausible) that an Amish teenager from an ultraconservative sect might not know what a microwave oven is on sight, I find it implausible that a 32-year-old Amish man who is savvy enough to get on a reality show, doesn't know what a microwave oven is. Such portrayals of them being so insular does a disservice to the Amish by portraying a romantic image of isolation that is largely nonexistent. Ditto for the scenes of the alleged Amish punching buttons in the elevator. Elevators are ubiquitous and pretty simple to figure out, it just strikes me as implausible that they were so entranced and confused by buttons.
Also, these shows that say "The Amish don't do this, or the Amish don't do that", blanket statements are rarely accurate when it comes to the Amish. What one church does, another down the road may not. So when the lone Mennonite on the show said that the "Mennonites don't drink alcohol," I found that puzzling. I've not known Amish and Mennonites to be a dry church, but maybe her family or specific church is.
I lay the blame (if there is even blame, I'll get to that in a sec) on the production company that films it. It is really their job more than TLC's to produce a product that is entertaining and accurate. But is there any "blame" at all? Do you feel deceived? Or is the only really important that you're entertained? If entertainment is the only goal, then maybe the show succeeds. As someone who does try to educate (according to my experiences about the Amish), I do find some of the portrayals dismaying.
Marilyn
I found the TV show to be boring. About the microwave, I live where their is a lot of Amish. They shop in the same stores as we do. Walmart, Mennard and Lowes. They have microwave in all these stores. I cannot help but believe they have seen them and know what they are. They are not as backwoods as people think they are.
Heather D.
I haven't watched the show and have no interest in watching the program. I figured that it is heavily scripted and suspected that the show is along the lines of Real World meets Honey Boo Boo. I don't watch TLC nearly as much as I used to when their programming turned into one scripted reality program after another.
Kathleen Salinas
Did you see the bit on Good Morning America last week? Lots of evidence that some of the folks left the Amish years ago.
Angie Yoder
I was so taken aback by the premise of this show and some of the sneak previews I had seen that I haven't watched it and I won't watch it either. TLC used to have some interesting and informative programming but no more. TLC now stands for "Too Little Credibility".
kentuckylady717
I agree with all these comments.....to me they are just making fun of the Amish...some of the things that went on just did not seem right !!!
I really don't care about watching it either, but really , you don't have too much choice if you only have basic cable......I refuse to pay for the other channels....only have cable because I was unable to get good reception where I am, so I was forced into getting basic cable.....and TLC is getting terrible anymore.....sure don't watch Honey boo boo.....they are just being made fun off, just like Breaking Amish.....so maybe it's time to get back to more reading and way less tv..... 🙂
Cara
I was also somewhat struck by the blanket statements made when they said "The Amish don't do" certain things, but I thought of it more like this: they only know their own Amish sect, and so they're going to say in general the Amish do or don't do things, perhaps assuming that all sects are like theirs. I could be wrong.
Kevin
Cara, I think that's plausible...although most Amish do interact with Amish from other areas so that they should know better...an Amish person is far more apt to say "in my community they don't allow bicycles", because they know the next church district over does allow them....Good to see you on Amishcookonline!:)
Barb Wright
I think that the mass public enjoys watching other people struggle.It doesn't matter if it is real or not...sadly,the promoters of such trash are laughing all the way to the bank. Personnally,I'd rather spend my time doing something constructive instead of wasting it on mindless mush.
Joyce
Knowing that the only Amish that would participate in something like this are those that have been with a foot outside for some time. Now I've read that one was married with children and divorced, two of them have a child together, and they for the most part left their communities years ago. I know "reality TV" is frequently scripted, but having people that have left years ago pretending to be surprised at things like microwaves and elevators is just wrong on so many levels.
Fran
I watched the show and it seemed fake to me. Amish: Out of Order is more realistic.
Judy Witt
I live in south Florida and all arrest records can be viewed online. I recently saw the mug shot of Katie Ann who was arrested in Boca Raton, Florida. I saw the court scene on the show and thought it did look realistic but I also knew no court allows filming. I thought it very strange that Katie was seen wearing her Amish clothing during the court appearance when she had already left her Amish community. She did not come to Florida to dress or be Amish which is one of the reasons she got a DUI in the first place. The scene had to be reenacted. I know the outside scenes were real. TLC should have simply planned on running the show by stating this is the story of five young people who are leaving the Amish/Mennonite faith and this is what they went through in order to become English. It is still interesting but why pretend these people did not know each other before NYC when it still would have been an interesting story to follow what happened to them when they left their faith.
It will be interesting to see how TLC explains the show. I have read on many sites and seen on TV that they are planning on coming clean with what is real and what has not been portrayed accurately.
Kevin
Judy, you raise good points...The show could have been just as interesting if they had just embraced the reality of it instead of trying to create an artificial reality!
Dawn
We don't have cable of any sort,but they look (from your picture) too sexy & their dresses are a bit clingy & suggestive to me(for Amish) Sounds like yeah,they're trying to portray them as oh,so backwoods & naive,how adorable..Blah,blah..
Made me laugh about parachuting in & filming toenail clipping-ha!
Carolyn
I find this show full of inaccuracy's, and I have a hard time beleaving they are real Amish. This is very typical of these reality shows. Unfortunately most of them are mindless trash. They really should do their homework. Ya think!!!The first ten minutes was sufficient for me. Yuk.