THE AMISH IN THE MEDIA -
Second Edition
As part of my continuing Amish In The Media series, I've looked at Amish portrayed on Broadway, in film and on popular network TV series. This month is the conclusion to September’s look at Amish on reality TV, with a look at two recent productions.
REAL AMISH ON TV- Who Would Have Thought??? - Part Two by Brad Igou Eighteen-year-old Andrew Miller is “the inquisitive and adventurous member of the crowd.” And there is Jerry Miller, who “has been on Rumspringa for six years and is the most ‘English’ of the group.” The first episode was titled “Dance with the Devil.”
Amish visitors and UK hosts of AMISH: WORLD’S SQUAREST TEENAGERS. Photo: Channel 4 British Television Network
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couple years ago, I received a call from a British TV network that was exploring their own version of AMISH IN THE CITY, the 2004 “reality” series that put Amish and non-Amish kids together in a luxurious house overlooking Los Angeles. I really didn’t think the Brits would pull it off, but in 2010 they actually began broadcasting THE AMISH: WORLD’S SQUAREST TEENAGERS. I went to the website for more information…
With rare access to the notoriously private Amish community, this series follows five Amish teenagers traveling to Britain on an extraordinary cultural exchange… During their stay in Britain, the Amish youngsters hope to share their values with their British counterparts as well as learning and understanding what British teenage life is all about. The series highlights the ways and whims of British teenage tribes through the eyes of the Amish. Among the teens involved, Becky Shrock “celebrated her 19th birthday on the day the group flew to the UK. Up until a year ago, she was a member of the strictest Amish sect, the Swartzentruber Amish.” Leon Lehman “having just turned 18, has only been on Rumspringa (my note the "searching" time for Amish youth deciding whether or not to join the Church) for a couple of years and is the youngest and freshest of the bunch.”
Perhaps Wikipedia summed it up best….
In each episode the group stayed with British families of different socio-economic strata, living in turn on a South London Estate, the Kent countryside and even staying at a Scottish hunting estate. During their visit, they were introduced to diverse and unfamiliar things, including sex shops, street dance, single mothers, stabbing and street violence, rock music, beach parties, game shooting and polo. (In 2011, the same channel followed up with LIVING WITH THE AMISH, with British teenagers going to Ohio to experience life in the Amish world.) Now in the U.S. comes the TLC show BREAKING AMISH in which four Amish and one Mennonite between the ages of 20 and 32 experience life in New York City. All said that they left their Amish community because they felt restless and constrained. According to the opinionated 32-yearold Jeremiah, “I was adopted and kind of thrown into this Amish crap, you know, it’s not cool.” The other male, Abe, apparently just wants to have fun. Rebecca, age 20, is seen crying as the jet heads for New York. Mennonite Sabrina, who is 25, is also adopted and of Italian and Puerto Rican parents. Perhaps understandably she wants to discover her roots and ends up getting a job in a Puerto Rican restaurant.
to get away and find out who I really am.” She wants to be a model but doesn’t know to use an elevator. (My note - odd, because I see Amish regularly using elevators.) It appears other “highlights” of the series include the three girls on a mission to buy their first sets of lingerie. The producers of “Wreck Chasers” and “Beauty and the Geek” fame proclaim BREAKING AMISH is 100% accurate, calling it a documentary. They tell us the youth were leaving the Amish anyway, so they basically just facilitated the process. Interestingly, when Kate and Sabrina appeared at a Beverly Hills press conference in August, they were both dressed in their Plain garb. Kate, who has not been baptized (my note - the Amish baptize only as adults freely choosing to become members of the church), stated that “Your family still holds you accountable, whether you're within the church or without.” Sabrina confirmed her family and community are not “so much afraid of the things you might do --- they're more afraid for your soul, and they're afraid that if you do this, you're going to go to hell. They're worried about eternity -- they're not just worried about New York." I was contacted in August to help the show staff and director to locate certain things for them for their production
British teenagers in Ohio reverse roles in LIVING WITH THE AMISH. Photo: Channel 4 Kate, an Amish bishop’s British Television Network 21-year-old daughter explains, “I just need
50 • Amish Country News • October 2012 • AmishNews.com