Sounds interesting on the surface, but within five minutes you realize this show is scripted. The Hutterites shown are acting, and are reading lines off a cue card -- very badly and awkwardly at that.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Jeff Collins, a schlock reality TV producer, used the National Geographic Channel, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's criminally convicted News Corp, and got an "in" with a former Hutterite whom a Hutterite colony trusted by flashing the stellar reputation of the unrelated National Geographic MAGAZINE, and thereby contracted the colony for $100,000 to produce a documentary about Hutterites. Once the ink was dry, the tables were quickly turned: Collins scrapped the documentary, switched to the "reality show" format, told the Hutterites they were too boring, and convinced several of the naive young teens to act out various (and increasingly outrageous and preposterous) scripted skits, which they filmed. The excitement of being on-camera and being in the spotlight led many young people to join in (remember, these are isolated people with little social life), and they were sitting ducks.

The level of preposterousness of the staged scripted scenarios was amped up to the point where: events were staged nearby and said to take place hundreds of miles away; fist-fights, heart attacks, and buildings burning down were blatantly fabricated and staged; teens were taken to an isolated spot in Canada and plied with alcohol under the promise of no cameras; a pregnancy scare was fabricated and staged; and on and on. And of course what was told to the young people versus what the snippets were edited to become was drastically different as well.

Well, you say, how did the adult Hutterites who participated get roped in? There are signed statements confirming that producer Jeff Collins threatened them with lawsuits if they did not do as they were told, since they had been paid.

The result is a patently fake, wooden, yet defamatory scripted "reality show" which not only is stupid, boring, and ridiculous, but which also grossly misrepresents the colony and the Hutterites, and has also created great conflict in the Hutterite community and shame for the colony that was filmed.

If you want the full details and facts: http://societymatters.org/hutterites

The reality TV genre, short for "reality television," features real-life situations, events, and interactions, often involving ordinary people rather than actors performing scripted roles. Reality TV shows aim to capture unscripted and authentic moments, providing viewers with a glimpse into various aspects of human life, behavior, and experiences.

Meet the Hutterites--a small religious colony in rural Montana who holds desperately to their sacred traditions while fighting the modern temptations of the outside world. King Colony is made up of 59 people and they are almost all related. This family lives together, works together, and worships God together, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for their entire lives. And, like any family, this one doesn't always agree. Most of the colony is holding tight to the age-old traditions of their ancestors, while others are flirting with modern society.

American Colony: Meet the Hutterites (2012)

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American Colony: Meet the Hutterites

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