The thing I find fascinating about makeover shows - for both people and places - is the number of people that participate and yet think that not much will change. Now, for the purposes of today I am excluding shows where you are surprised and only talking about shows such as "Trading Spaces" or "How Do I Look?"* or "Restaurant Makeover".
Now I recognize that part of this is the process, after all people do not intentionally dress badly or design their room or space badly. But once you have agreed that it is time for a change - well, it's time for a change. And part of that hook of these shows is that the change is, well, different. If it was just a coat of paint or a haircut - well, you wouldn't need a show for that. And as with the rest of life, when other people are giving you money to do stuff, you lose control - they get input. Or, with most of these shows, they get to decide it all, and you get to live with it. I understand that it's all easy for me to say this from my couch, but, still. And of course I am sure they edit it to make the contributers look more worried because people who are relaxed and happy are not generally considered good TV for some reason.
*I know some people on "How Do I Look?" are nominated by others, but the subject agrees so the show starts after they have agreed to participate.
Rants About New (and old) Things
