Whether the idea mortifies you or intrigues you, it’s out there in cyberspace and it’s for real.
The Web-docuseries is called The Bump and it is being described by one source as ” Jerry Springer meets Oprah meets American Idol meets Dr. Oz meets . . . America’s conscience.”
If one of these things doesn’t seem to belong (aka American Idol) it’s because we haven’t gotten to the crux of the show just yet. Each week, a new pregnant woman in a different life circumstance will be presented to the viewers. At the end of the episode, the viewers will decide whether she keeps the baby…or whether she has an abortion.
Now, before you lose your minds, we have to explain: the “pregnant” women are not really with child. They are all just actors.
Are you all breathing again? Okay, good.
Now, the idea of the show supposedly came to the executive producers after President Barack Obama’s commencement address at Notre Dame University last year. We’re sure it wasn’t his intention to have a show made, but he said something that really resonated with the creators of The Bump. Barack said he wanted “to find ways to communicate about a workable solution to the problem of unintended pregnancies.”
Consider the lines of communication open.
The creators of The Bump hope the show can “humanize” the debate over abortions by presenting different circumstances to people who have perhaps never considered before constructing their opinion on the subject. Examples of the episodes include a woman who is married but got pregnant after her husband’s departure to Iraq, a victim of domestic violence and another woman who just wants to be on a TV show.
The pilot episode premiered yesterday and can be viewed on the show’s website as well as YouTube. Viewers are encouraged to comment and discuss each episode in length, though the comments will be monitored “to ensure civility.”
This is one hell of social experiment. We think it could spark some really important discussions on the subject…or just get a lot of people really angry.
What do U think?