WIFE SWAP - Pig farmers vs belly dancers

The Carmichaels are pig farmers who live on an isolated homestead in rural Nevada.  Mom Brandi values hard work, traditional values, and simplicity.   The Hanna family are totally not pig farmers.  They live a life of creativity and indulgence in New York City, where mom Jehan honors the goddess within through belly dancing, art, and music.

Brandi and Jehan swap places and families, and their lives will never be the same.  For reals.  This is one of those episodes of Wife Swap where each family is receptive enough to the experience that it actually does change their lives.  Of course, before the Carmichaels and Hannas get to the life changing part, they have some entertaining blow-out arguments and shed a few tears.

The funniest part was watching down-to-earth Shaun Carmichael try to make sense of this strange belly dancing goddess in his home.  I would lay money that he had never met anyone as colorful or as wild as Jehan Hanna before, and he just had a hard time figuring out where the heck this woman was coming from.  Most of the time he just looked at Jehan as if she were utterly insane.

To the Hannas, the Carmichael family seemed to be missing out on the joy of creativity and self-expression, which they greatly valued.  They couldn’t believe that the four Carmichael kids had to – gasp! – actually work on the pig farm.  “Kids shouldn’t work on a farm,” dad Hanna said.  By contrast, their child Serena was pampered and treated like a princess, which was a mind-blower to Brandi Carmichael. Didn’t Serena have any chores to do?

Well, no. 

Chores and manual labor didn’t fit into the Hanna scheme of things.  “That’s not my function,” Jehan said when asked why she didn’t work around the house.  Both of the Hanna parents seemed a little disdainful of farm work – they had enough money that they were insulated from the realities of manual labor and appeared to forget that people actually have to work to produce the food that we all consume.

The key take-away lesson for both families was that a sense of balance was necessary in life.  Sometimes you have to put the cymbals or paint brush down and wash the dishes.  On the other hand, a life of unending work with no joy or creativity is no good either.  The Carmichaels and Hannas began the Wife Swap experience as polar opposites and by the end, they both edged a little closer to each other.

The Carmichaels seemed to have made the most changes in their life after the swap.  They sold the pigs and Brandi took up belly dancing.  But is that because the Hanna family’s artistic and spiritual world view was superior to the Carmichael's?  Or does it mean the Carmichaels were ultimately more open minded and willing to change? I honestly don’t know.

--Dave Campbell

Comments

[Denise J MARINO]

I totally enjoyed the show specially that I knew the Hanna's . It had to have been difficult for both families but it was fascinating to see the effect it took at the end on Mrs. Carmichael, that she actually is taking Belly Dance classes. I didn't see anything wrong in living a "fairy tale" life. Why not? If one is happy, all is going well, u are creating 24 hours a day, what is wrong with that? One thing, thinking this positive, gets u where u are today. In summary, I loved the end results of both families. One has to experience this to believe it.

[Shir-El]

That show was hysterical.It was interesting to see how each wife was blown away by how the other family lived. It is wonderful that in this country we can lead any life we choose, no matter how boring or fantasmical it may appear to others. One person's joy is another's labor, and vice versa. I hope that Mrs. Carmichael finally understood that bellydancers are not just glorified strippers though.

[Arzee]

ABC struck gold when they put the Hannas on TV in Wife Swap. They were truly a family that embraced life. Plus the Hannas knew more about bringing up children, and igniting their creativity, than all the TV talk show hosts and psychologists combined. But the Hannas didn’t just talk a good game, they lived it. More importantly, it was obvious that anyone they touched was also better off for having met them. By the end of the show, I wished the Hannas could come to my house and bring out the best in my family.

Jehan was amazing. She had an innate feeling about how to live life to the fullest and conveyed that message so clearly to the people around her, especially her child Serena. It was obvious that her students revered her and that she gave them far more than she got in return. Mr. Hanna set the gold standard for husbands across the country. With total generosity, he gave his family everything they needed to bring happiness and creativity to their lives. And it wasn’t just about money, it was about understanding the need for them to grow as creative human beings and to find their own path. Serena was simply the most charismatic child I have ever seen on television. She is a multi talented child with a warm and sensitive heart. She is a role model that I wished my kids could see on TV on Saturday mornings. ABC should sign the Hannas and their daughter Serena to their own TV show before someone else grabs them