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How to Watch Shark Tank Like a Girl
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The show Shark Tank is awesome when they drop a contestant onto the stage and unleash the predators. It makes for great TV, waiting for Kevin O’Leary to say: “You’re dead to me,” or: “Just take your rotten idea to the backyard and shoot it.”
I would take Lori Greiner’s investment. The queen of QVC holds 120 patents. Who doesn’t want this badass sales machine as a business partner? I like Mark Cuban’s authenticity but sometimes he has a dead stare that creeps me out. All together, the other Sharks don’t equal his $2.7 billion net worth. These are the sorts of conversations I have with Maddy who watches with me.
Am I sending mixed messages to my 7-year-old daughter that it’s aspirational to be a greedy Shark?
Maddy says she likes the drama. She wants the Sharks to fund the ideas she likes. If it’s something she deems the world doesn’t need, Maddy wants the Sharks to send them packing. She likes to connect with me about behind-the-scenes facts on the show’s reality. Did you know that many people who win funding in front of the camera don’t actually get funded? They do get in front of nearly 8-million prospects though.
Our favorite is when the Sharks are circling and snapping at each other which then turns into great advice on how to pitch investors. Like when Daymond John breaks down the basics for clothing distribution. This is my rationale for binge watching.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, I have to make wise media choices for my daughter, in that there’s plenty of evidence that too much screen time is horrible for health.
So I guess the question is simply: Should I allow my 7-year-old to watch one of the best show’s on regular TV as part of her media time? I like James Altucher’s blog post about his ten lessons learned from Shark Tank. This offered me some reassurance that allowing Shark Tank to help babysit my daughter was not completely off the deep end.
I read once that children who watch reality TV are more likely to connect life happiness to the quest for beauty, money and popularity. This is my concern, around the value system of it all, so I tried to talk to Maddy about this. Here’s what she said:
“Um Dad, yeah, duh. Happiness is being with friends and family and having fun. It’s better just to be happy. You don’t have to judge by how much money you have.” That was the perfect answer to my ears. Then she added: “But it would be better to be a Shark though, right?”
Image Notes: I’ve always liked this opening scene and logo treatment to Shark Tank. Sharks schooling around the buildings. It’s simple and iconic. This image is a wallpaper courtesy of Alpha Coders.