Really Surprised!

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

This show directly taps into the pioneer folklore of American cultural story: Despite hardship, and the looming danger of chaos, if we all stick together, we'll make it. Now, there's a lot to say for a never-say-die attitude. At the same time, I wonder if this show strengthens Americans in the believe, that their we-are-better-than-thee approach in the world is justified, that they are the "Chosen People" and thus are more entitled than other nations.All that aside, this show is pretty good. It is clearly shown that even though we might think of children as angels, they are not. They have the same capacity for cruelty and stupidity as adults. Taylor is the perfect example of a spoiled beauty queen. In the first episode she says: "I'm a beauty-queen and I don't do dishes" and she acts accordingly. She sleeps in very late and doesn't do her job as Yellow Leader to make breakfast, except on the first day. Taylor has discovered the George Bush defense: When something happens bush doesn't like, when he gets criticized he denies it and says: "So? What are you gonna do about it? and "I don't give a rats ass", as well as "It wasn't me!" in all their various diplomatic variations.This is very similar to Taylor's highly annoying "Deal with it!" The amazing thing is, they BOTH GET AWAY WITH IT! Just like that evil Big Brother guy. At the moment of writing, after episode 3, Taylor's got openly and publicly criticized at the town hall meeting. Typically, she got out of it, like a regular politician, by making an empty promise and ... crying! Edit: Just like a true politician (Bush, anyone?) she has done NOTHING to keep her promise, by the end of episode 4! Edit: it's now episode 9, and she STILL hasn't worked an ounce! What's more, she's proud of that fact! Greg is also worth mentioning. Since he demonstrated so far, the worst reaction to his adversity of not winning the gold star, by acting out and bullying, he fails to see a very basic thing about living with other people: you have to be, up to a degree, likable as well as work hard. Most adults could have told him that the best reaction to losing the gold star would have been to work just as hard and be gracious in defeat. But at fifteen, he's (understandbly) unable to see that. He's for a large part justified in his feeling of being treated unfairly. It's just not good politics to start bullying like he did.Mike, seems hell bent NOT to give Greg a Gold Star. That is petty and low. He thereby has reduced Greg to a 2nd class citizen: "No matter how hard you work, we're gonna give the reward to a little girl anyway!" (whose parents were so irresponsible to let her go away on her birthday, at that!) What's been made clear by the showdowns is that the Green Team must be the worst organizers. Bigger kids should be better at everything: they're smarter, tougher and more experienced. Yet, the Yellow team (on average the youngest kids) doesn't always lose. Kudos to the creators of the showdowns that they reward organisation, as well as strength speed and tenacity.The so-called controversy around "child-labor" is indicative of another feature of America, the overly bureaucratic and rule-obsessed side. I guess the pioneer-myth-side is preferable.

it was sad how many negative comments were flying around the media before Kid Nation was even aired!! we were wondering what it was going to be like, but decided to Tivo anyway. the crew was SO creative with the challenges and rewards etc etc. it was a joy to see the kids mature and grow---so many arrived spoiled and unwilling to jump in there, but they really changed over the weeks and we fell in love with each of them!!! they dealt with human conflict often better than adults, and in the end knew it was much more than an opportunity to be on a TV show..... it was an amazing opportunity to pull together and form a family/community, and make life-long friends!!!! we look forward to the Bonanza Annual Reunion, and know how this experience changed their lives---what will they become as adults? how will they influence our world? GOOD JOB KIDS!!! GOOD JOB PRODUCERS AND CREW!!!!!!!! PS...great to see old Daisytown transformed!!!

This has become my favorite show. I love these kids. They have shown maturity, a great work ethic, and above all hope for the future. From what I have seen there really has been not a sign of prejudice. These kids always seem to be able to work out their differences with no hard feelings. I love how they shake hands after their differences have been sorted out. I unfortunately don't know very many men that do that. Especially around the children's hockey arena. Adults could learn from these children. The only thing I wasn't all that crazy about was the children having to cook their own meals in the old cook stoves. I think I would have had a hard time doing that. Some of the challenges seemed to have been set up to make the kids fail like the rock hauling one. How on earth are kids supposed to know how much 500 lbs of rock are?

In a nutshell... watch it at least once and then make up your mind. Either you like it, hate it, find it somewhat endearing and inspiring or truly feel it is exploitative. But don't prejudge this based on what you've read in newspaper articles or on the Internet. That to me is just a sad commentary on what our country has turned into (protest and censor something without even knowing what it is about.) I personally find it entertaining and am happy to see kids that age be able to work together and handle life much better than many adults. And for people who feel parents should be concerned about leaving their kids out in the middle of nowhere with no adults around. Come on. There are more crew and production people on the premises than the 38 or 39 kids. These kids ARE supervised.But the bottom line is... there are many other shows on Wednesday night at the same time as KID NATION. If this isn't your cup of tea, don't watch it.