14 DAY TRIAL // One of this week’s episodes of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon had Honey Boo Boo and her mother Mama June as guests, booked to promote the new season of TLC’s Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. If you know where to look, this appearance included the first undeniable signs that Honey Boo Boo, real name Alana Thompson, has changed from the adorable girl she was when she first appeared on TV to a tiny insufferable monster.
What we saw at home was Alana being herself but there was a certain feeling that something had changed for the worse. She was bored out of her mind, was ruder than before, and she seemed in no mood to cooperate with Fallon, even though the appearance would have served her more than it would him.
Christy O’Shoney from Salon.com was in the audience at the taping and her account of what really happened is chilling because it confirms that the Honey Boo Boo we see on TV and millions of viewers simply adore, is no more.
O’Shoney writes that Honey Boo Boo was annoying and mean, aggressive and rude, and acting like a spoiled brat throughout the interview. She also hit her mother a couple of times and was scolded by Fallon. None of that made it in the final episode because, she argues, there is a Honey Boo Boo image that must be preserved and pushed to loyal audiences. Having her grown up and nasty does not fit the bill.
After you read O’Shoney’s account, check out the two videos below and you will see that all the signs are there to spot a child whose childhood has been ruined by reality television.
Mama June, for all her good intentions (she says she’s doing the show to secure a future for the kids, not for herself, and she seems honest about it), is acting as if she’s taken the monkey on show for tourists. She either responds in Alana’s place or tells her what to say and what to do; she is also the first (and loudest) to laugh at the kid’s jokes. She’s basically having Alana perform “tricks” for laughs.
Clearly, Alana doesn’t know any better and, having grown up accustomed to receiving applause, praise, and laughter, she complies. At the same time, when she feels as if she’s not being paid enough attention, she acts out: she pretends she’s bored (or she’s genuinely so), she acts “girlie,” and she tries to show she’s funny and witty.
Fallon probably deserves a medal of some sorts for not losing his patience and knowing how to handle a guest like her.
If what O’Shoney says is true that she’s several times worse in real life than she comes across on screen (and there’s no reason she’d lie), Alana Thompson is yet another victim of reality television. She could very well be a “dimpled monster” but it’s her parents and the producers’ fault she ended up this way.
So here’s to hoping this season will also be the last.