I really enjoy the television show “The Moment of Truth” (I hope I didn’t just lose readers by admitting this). I am not trying to give it credit for more than what it is. It’s trashy. I wouldn’t define it as good, but it is attention diverting (as I work on blog posts…).
For those who have not seen it, the show puts contestants through a lie detector test where they are asked a number of questions, probably based on a background story or history they provide to the show, the response and the lie detector results are recorded, and then on live television and in front of family and fronts, the person is asked some of the same questions. They answer the questions on the air, if their answer is confirm by the lie detector test taken earlier (which they don’t the results of), the contestant gets money. The more questions they answer truthfully, the more money the get, but also the more revealing/shocking/intimate the questions get.
Intrigued, you can watch the full episodes here.
Besides the exploitation (which is super interesting!), the show touches upon a lot of human traits that are also interesting. Obviously, there is the idea of skeletons in one’s closet. That is sort of what the show banks on for its contestants. I admire the people, though, because they bring them to the forefront. In a way, in just as much as it is invasive, it must also be very liberating. I know I have skeletons that I don’t admit, too, and I don’t know what it would take to get me to.
Which leads to the other neat human trait the show plays on, greed. Like most game shows, this is what drives the contestants motivations. Reality shows, if nothing else, are great at exposing what people, rather the right kind of person, will do for some amount of money. The same is true here.
What value do you put on your personal secrets? What price tag would it take to reveal them?
In a perfect world, this show would just be giving money away. These things are the truth, one way or another. They are who you are, they are what you have done, why shouldn’t they be known.
But, society doesn’t work like that. We don’t work like that. Relationships are maintained because of things that aren’t known. I love a quote from the underrated Nicolas Cage movie, Lord of War, that goes “Some of the most successful relationships are based on lies and deceit. Since that’s where they usually end up anyway, it’s a logical place to start.” I am not sure if that is totally applicable here, but it gives me a chance, if nothing else, to plug a movie that I don’t think enough people have seen.
Regardless of the show’s merit, its entertainment value, its sleeze factor, it did get me thinking. Which is a lot more than a lot of stuff on TV, so the whole thing can’t be bad…