Living with The Amish (Ch 4, UK)

[Guest Anonymous]

Anyone else watching this?

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/livi ... -the-amish

I am enjoying it - it is nice and gently-paced. The British kids applied to go (rather than being sent like in World's Strictest Parents, etc) and the Amish couple seem sweet and tolerant.

I am wondering if there is any background that is not being disclosed about the community, given that they are allowing TV crews in?

[Rachel333]

I thought I remembered a thread about this. I like it generally, but the Amish family in episode 5 is annoying me. One of the little Amish girls said some really racist things to Siana, and when she brought it up to the father he basically just lectured her about forgiveness. And she's agreeing with him. I mean, I think forgiveness is good, but I'm not sure that's the right time to talk about it.

[Guest Anonymous]

Thank you for posting Rachel - I was annoyed by last week's episode too. She told him that his daughter had upset her by saying that black people are scary, and he asked if she (Siana) had been able to forgive the daughter, because if not it showed there was a deep pain in her life. He completely sidestepped the issue that if the little girl had racist beliefs they must have come from somewhere in the family, because the child doesn't see anyone outside his circle.

I have kind of enjoyed the series so far, but have been disappointed that the British students are generally not at stages in life where they have thought through issues of religion, and so are ill-equipped to really challenge the belief systems of their hosts. I liked the week where James challenged the man who referred to his family as being 'broken', and in that situation, the man was quite humble and apologised and shared stuff about his own family break-ups. But yesterday, that man really annoyed me.

[fancypants]

I just noticed in episode 4 that charlotte had Preparing to Be His Helpmeet in her suitcase. :(

[Guest LilaFowler]

Thanks for posting about this show. It seems right up my alley. Downloading now.

[Guest Anonymous]

I just noticed in episode 4 that charlotte had Preparing to Be His Helpmeet in her suitcase. :(

I missed that - was it her own copy or did one of the Amish women give it to her? :o

[Soldier of the One]

Yikes. Would it be worth tracking down Charlotte and starting a conversation with her about that book?

[fancypants]

Well, it hardly seems like the type of book she'd pick up on her own. I bet it was given to her.

[Lillian]

Great show! Up to episode 4. The only thing is the teens seem to be just...along for the ride. It doesn't look like they put very much thought into challenging the Amish beliefs or their own beliefs (excepting whats-her-name, the brown haired girl, and Charlotte.). The boys definitely don't seem to care about the religious aspect.

[Guest Anonymous]

I would imagine that the recruitment to the programme would probably have been through Universities and colleges and the young people selected for their likelihood not to make waves.

I enjoyed the final show, where they re-visited the Amish girl who 'starred' in the original series, when the Amish young people came to the UK.

I liked the follow-up at the end of the programme and the ways in which the boys particularly made quite big changes to their lives when they came home. I would like to see them followed up again in a year or so, when the girls would have had a chance to properly reflect on the faith issues that had come up for them. I would especially love it if Siana had a blog somewhere not related to channel 4, so she could speak freely about the experience. I think she was really interesting, as the one who most challenged the status quo while she was out there.

[Rachel333]

Siana does have a blog and a twitter: http://twitter.com/sianaarrgh I think I remember some tweets about how she was less than thrilled about the editing of the program. I hope she'll share more in the future.

[Buzzard]

It wont let me watch it from the US. Is it anywhere else?

[sippin0nsunshine]

It wont let me watch it from the US. Is it anywhere else?

you can watch it here http://www.1channel.ch/tv-2731225-Living-with-the-Amish. :)

[Lillian]

I'm watching it at tv-links.eu (just search for Living with the Amish, all the eps are up so far).

[Buzzard]

Thanks! I'll try tomorrow!

[FireIsCatching89]

Working my way through the series; I've already been charmed by Siana and Charlotte! They're both such intelligent, wonderful girls. I wish I was friends with them! Charlotte is so beautiful, but her analysis of the pressure to be pretty is so spot on, and Siana's feminist views give me hope. I hope Siana goes into the media or suchlike, since she's so insightful. And I've been impressed with all the teens' behavior in cooperating with everything, though this may just be because I've been watching a ton of "World's Strictest Parents" lately, and that these teens are here by choice. Even then, I don't think they knew entirely what they were getting into, and they've been handling it pretty well so far, especially for teens! I think that Hannah and George are also fairly smart, just a bit quieter and unsure of themselves, by virtue of their age. That's why I think we hear the most from Charlotte and Siana- they're a bit older and more comfortable being vocal.

I'm a big fan of the other series, Amish on Holiday, and I look forward to catching up with Becky, since she was my favorite from that series. I was so happy for her when she went surfing. If she were born into a mainstream family, I could see her being a bit of a boho surfer type, you know? Both girls from that series seem so very smart, and I wish they'd have the opportunity for more education! That's one of my biggest beefs with Amish culture- education stops after 14. Education is a wonderful thing, and while it doesn't always need to take place in a classroom, "book learning" has it's place, and I think critical thinking is an important skill that a lot of people lack. Ughhhh....

[Rachel333]

Siana has a little bit more to say about the experience in her latest blog entry. http://dontgotheresiana.wordpress.com/2 ... nce-on-it/

She experienced some serious racism from the Amish. I'm not surprised, but that's really sad.

[fancypants]

I'm watching Leaving Amish Paradise, which is the follow-up from the documentary, Trouble in Amish Paradise. I hesitate to even mention it in case people haven't seen it yet, I'm *seething* watching the idiocy of ex-Amish Ephraim as he develops his own literalist fundamentalist theology. Worst point so far (hard to pick one, truly) is Ephraim complaining about how much his young daughter's chemotherapy costs, in front of her, as the therapy is being administered. Aargh. Sick to my stomach now. :-(

http://watchdocumentary.com/watch/leavi ... 7bf6d.html

[Guest Anonymous]

I like Siana and I am glad she is finally telling her side of the story. I wondered what more might be going on behind the scenes, when that dreadful scene about her 'need' to forgive the racism, was aired.

I think she is very thoughtful and perceptive. I hope that, during University, she gets a chance to work on her writing skills, because she seems to be someone who could go very far, if she were able to express herself a little more coherently in writing. I would definitely be interested in reading her book, one day. :)

[xDreamerx]

Just waiting for the first episode to load a bit now! Yay Amish things. They fascinate me. I would never want to be one, but they fascinate me just the same. Thanks for providing streaming links for those of us outside the U.K. :). Does it profile the same Amish community that participated in World's Squarest Teenagers?