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Trading Spaces
Nov. 30th, 2002 11:35 pmSo, I read this Salon.com article about Trading Spaces the other day. The article is all about how the "reality" that we see on the show is completely engineered, and that they shoot scenes out of order, and blahblahblah yackity-schmackity. I'm fine with this concept - there's lots of reasons why they would do it this way, starting with the simple fact that it probably makes for better televison. I am a little bothered by the thought of there being off-camera gnomes that do some of the work on the room, since, after all, these are suposed to be projects that two novices can complete in two days, but that's a minor quibble.
There was one thing I learned from the article that does have me a little cheesed though. (You knew there had to be, right?) I'll quote: "You'll never see the sewing coordinator who has done all the sewing. You will not hear him tell a homeowner working in front of the camera that she won't hurt anything because the machine isn't threaded. Why is it that if they're willing to admit that the carpentry they do on the show is beyond the ability of the homeowners (hence the open use of Ty and Amy), but they are willing to pretend that just anyone cn sit down at a sewing machine and turn out perfectly tailored curtains, pillows and slipcovers?
Although a sewing machine is certainly less dangerous than power tools, and while you don't have to worry about the structural soundness of a throw pillow, why do they devalue the skill, practice and talent it takes to be a masterful seamstress? Obviously, a large part of why this ticks me off so much is because those are the talents that I have worked to hone, and I don't like the pretense that any schook who's never threaded a needle can sew beautifuly after a quick tutorial. Would it kill them to admit that the sewing they do on the show is professional grade, and make it clear that someone else is doing most of this work? Or to allow in their budget for screw-ups, and actually LET the homeowners do it themselves?
I know I'm probably wasting too much tim getting all worked up over this, but it just frustrates me to no end.
There was one thing I learned from the article that does have me a little cheesed though. (You knew there had to be, right?) I'll quote: "You'll never see the sewing coordinator who has done all the sewing. You will not hear him tell a homeowner working in front of the camera that she won't hurt anything because the machine isn't threaded. Why is it that if they're willing to admit that the carpentry they do on the show is beyond the ability of the homeowners (hence the open use of Ty and Amy), but they are willing to pretend that just anyone cn sit down at a sewing machine and turn out perfectly tailored curtains, pillows and slipcovers?
Although a sewing machine is certainly less dangerous than power tools, and while you don't have to worry about the structural soundness of a throw pillow, why do they devalue the skill, practice and talent it takes to be a masterful seamstress? Obviously, a large part of why this ticks me off so much is because those are the talents that I have worked to hone, and I don't like the pretense that any schook who's never threaded a needle can sew beautifuly after a quick tutorial. Would it kill them to admit that the sewing they do on the show is professional grade, and make it clear that someone else is doing most of this work? Or to allow in their budget for screw-ups, and actually LET the homeowners do it themselves?
I know I'm probably wasting too much tim getting all worked up over this, but it just frustrates me to no end.
