Dr. Phil: The Invasion
Elgin, Texas is probably a lot like most small towns in America. The newspaper favors local stories over hard news, the community is mostly conservative, and there are many of the same problems as larger cities. The difference is that Elgin is also my hometown.
The Dr. Phil television show came to Central Texas a few weeks ago to declare Elgin as Anywhere, USA. The producers have set up shop in order to spend the year relating human stories from the Elgin community. Their goal, if I’m correct, is to show that things are pretty much “the same all over”.
Judging by the latest articles in the local paper, things aren’t going terribly well. As any cynical person (me) could have told you, the producers have selected the most negative stories with the most sensational plotlines to represent “average” problems in Elgin. Bad news sells. The town has to appear to be in the middle of a crisis that only Dr. Phil can solve.
Now I won’t lie to you, I would never live in Elgin again. The police are mostly bumpkins who sit on the highway waiting for unsuspecting speeders, most of the local news boils down to City Hall getting a new toilet, and the subtle hostility towards any values that oppose the conservative majority is often stifling. Unfortunately I’m sure plenty of small towns (particularly in Texas) share those attributes.
That said, there are plenty of good things about small towns, and Elgin in particular. There is a real sense of community, an actual Main Street, local festivals straight out of Pollyanna, and in some ways, insulation from the madness of the outside world. In my mind, those things all make Elgin a great place to visit, but are hardly enough to consider permanent residence.
The problem with the nature of Dr. Phil’s approach to local issues is the way it casually convinces viewers that the town is a mess. And honestly, I don’t think that’s completely true. Elgin has plenty of great people working hard to make the town a better place, and it’s irresponsible to present such an unbalanced picture in the hopes of securing better ratings.
Moderation: The older posts on Second Negative are protected by a comment moderation queue. If you leave a comment I'll need to manually approve it, but after that it will be published above. So comment away.
