Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader

I was chatting the other evening with some friends and we spent a few minutes on the topic of the game show, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader.

I have to admit, I watched this once and enjoyed it. Sure, it’s a humorous show, (it wouldn’t have made it through the first few airings if it weren’t for Foxworthy), but it’s based on a ludicrous concept. 

I remember Foxworthy posed a question about the order of the levels of the Earth’s atmosphere. The adult could not remember which atmospheric layer was called the mesosphere because her brain had kicked that irrelevant fact off the hard-drive about 20 years ago. The 5th grader remembered it because he was faced with the threat of being stuck with the class doofus (who bullied him) if he didn’t do well on that test. Meanwhile the adult with the bachelor’s degree who got the question wrong employs a wealth of wisdom and a tremendous throng of relevant facts to keep herself and her family not just surviving but thriving in a world bent on dumbing her down and removing all of her hard-earned assets and liberties. 

Hey, I’m tri-lingual and have a Master’s degree, and I can not recall the order of the Earth’s atmospheric layers. Am I not smarter than a 5th grader? Please!
 

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader seems to me to be the trailer park version of Jeopardy. I guess that's why Foxworthy is the host since he's made a hilarious success riding the redneck train. If you win on Jeopardy, you've got something to boast about. If you win on Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader, what are you going to boast about? I have a friend who is missing a leg. While he's tough and active and all, his teenage son can outrun him, but that isn't something that his son can boast about: "Hey I can outrun my handicapped dad!" Yay! Way to go! You see, neither winning a race with a handicapped person nor winning on Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader are accomplishments.

Just going on the show puts you in between a rock and a hard place doesn't it? If you lose, you've gained the reputation of NOT being as smart as a fifth grader, and if you win you have nothing to boast about except the extra cash in your pocket. It is typical of the way Hollywood folk exploit. They invite people to bring shame on themselves in the pursuit of the money they dangle. Even if the show were canceled (Has it been? I don't know and I don't care.) the foolish will find no lack of other avenues to embarrassment and humiliation and the Hollywood types will never lack the means or opportunity to exploit them.

Would YOU become a contestant on that game show? I wouldn't think ill of you if you did, really! Honestly, whether you win or lose, you're smarter than a fifth grader.

JPT