July 27, 2004 03:38 PM CT
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I am already getting e-mail from people worried about “Amish in the City,” the much-buzzed-about reality series that begins with a two-hour episode at 8 p.m. Wednesday on UPN.
Obviously, I am not getting e-mail from the Amish themselves, but members of that community have let it be known that they feel nothing good can come from this show, in which five teens on rumspringa — the traditional Amish rite of exploring the outside world — agree to experience city life while living in a really cool house with six non-Amish kids.
Speaking as a onetime Mennonite who bows to no one in his respect for the Amish way of life, I think the show is terrific. Not only does “Amish in the City” take the Amish seriously, it takes rumspringa seriously.
Two of the show’s producers spent four years making a documentary, “Devil’s Playground,” all about rumspringa. When you watch that film, you’re saddened that Amish teens take in so little of the outside world except for parties, cigarettes and junk TV.
On “Amish in the City,” the TV is off (at least tonight it is), booze is not supplied and idle hands are never a problem. The producers give the housemates plenty to do. Even the most mundane activities, like shopping or looking at L.A.’s skyline, create moments of high emotion and sharp contrast.
The stars of the show are Mose, a 24-year-old Wisconsin Amish man whose sincerity and innocence (and accent) are at first amusing, then endearing, as you begin to fathom his deep faith.
And then there is Ariel, a striking 19-year-old whose positions on meat and dairy seem far more absolutist than any Amish belief. (Eggs, she memorably says at the store, are “chicken abortions.”)
So forget those “Amish Gone Wild” headlines you’ve seen. This is reality TV that approaches documentary form. It is, like all good drama, a vehicle for empathy.
True, the city kids don’t have a terrible life choice to make, while any Amish who opt to leave their communities will be treated as outcasts. But I’m not sure the material world, even when presented as an MTV fantasy, actually impresses the Amish kids that much. Those teachings about not being vain or proud have clearly sunk in. Meanwhile, the city kids are forced to confront their own insularity and spiritual shallowness. This should be fun.
The pilot will repeat at 8 p.m. Friday on UPN.
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