POOR MONKEY HAS NO TEETH!!!!!
Photo: ABC News
TLC's documentary "My Monkey Baby" ran on October 4th, and has since received loads of blog buzz. And rightfully so. It's just so... bizarre.
The program introduces three couples who, in lieu of an an actual, er, human child, have adopted monkeys. According to the show, this is a growing trend, embraced by upwards of 15,000 American households. But don't call them monkeys, says Jim Johnson, adopted pop to Jessica Marie. "She's my daughter."
The show's couples treat their monkeys more like little people than like pets: calling them their kids, feeding them human food, even applying makeup on their furry little faces. One featured woman, Mary Lynn, lets her "monkid" Silly Willy sleep in bed with her. Sure, many animal lovers let their pets sleep in their beds, but then again, dogs and cats don't wear diapers and pajamas when catching their Zs.
This anthropomorphizing may be due to the fact that some of the couples depicted are unable or unwilling to have children of their own.
Yes, monkeys are really, really cute. But they are also wild animals that grow less docile with age (a fact only casually acknowledged by monkey owners in the documentary). Unfortunately, the program doesn't address what happens when the monkeys grow up, or even how living as an eternal baby affects the monkeys themselves.
While we were fascinated with these devoted animal lovers, we couldn't help but wonder about all of the things left unsaid in this incomplete look at growing up monkey.
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