Oh, look! Chinese people on "Supernanny."

Sometimes when I'm not reading or watching a movie in the evening, I might tune into the old standby - network programs on the telly.

Those reality shows sure are taking up a lot of airtime. The stations are loading up their primetime schedule with some new reality shows - Wipeout!, I Survived a Japanese Gameshow to name two. Some are good, consistent and long-running such as The Amazing Race and Survivor. Some are entertaining - Hell's Kitchen catches my attention. Anyone remember Paradise Island? There have been only 2 seasons of that show. Big Brother was something I could never sit through.

If family dynamics and the improvement of it is of any value to you, Supernanny is the show to watch. I don't follow the series for the fact that I actually find it a little stressful at times. Watching ill-behaved children and parents who don't have the skills to deal with them make me cringe and anxious.

However, the part of the show where Jo Frost, the British supernanny, gives instruction on how to deal with getting the children and parents on the right track is engrossing and educational. Even though I'm lucky to not have those kinds of human terrors the show displays, there's always something to learn from each episode, patience and consistency being the constant, key behavīors.

Something on the most recent episode made me go WTH. It  featured an interracial family of 5 with a Chinese dad and Caucasian mom.

A father and daughter activity was introduced in an attempt to repair the non-existent relationship between the two. To have them get together (he travels for work weekly) and do something in a meaningful way. A dragon made out of orange and red balloons (and a paper dragon head) appears in their living room. This activity involves the father and daughter writing  their issues on a balloon and then popping the balloons. Sort of a way to symbolically annihilate these bad emotions so they can start fresh.

Why did they have to use a dragon? Because the father was Chinese?? I've seen this activity before and the show had the family members just write on and then pop random balloons strewn in a bedroom.

Another activity had the same daughter with the father writing Chinese calligraphy. WTH! The father didn't look like he even knew Chinese characters. I'm assuming this by his terrible strokes with his brush and his comment that he hopes "the ink doesn't stain," or something to that effect.

They did have the father and daughter do fencing, which is a sport in which she's taking lessons. I could've gone "A-ha!" with that but I'll let that one by. Her pastime sure fits in with the Chinese stereotype though, doesn't it?  Maybe that's why the show incorporated fencing in the living room together.

Anyhow, I felt they could've left the ethnic thing out of the show for this family. It's not like it's very common that Chinese families know or have an interest in Chinese calligraphy, dragon representations or sword-fighting.

However, I'm fully aware that these colorful activities, especially the calligraphy, were totally new activities/angles in this show and something a regular Joe-Blow wouldn't usually get to see. 

Half of me is thinking that ethnic flavor is....good....sometimes. The other half is thinking.....is it necessary?

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