I found this video on the pbs.org website. I've always been curious about the Amish church and community, so I'm happy that someone took the time to create this. I could never go to the "Amish Country" and tour it, though. It just seems...weird to do so. I mean, it's like the guy at the beginning says--it'd be like going to Disney World. But these are people not artifacts. If I want to see old homesyles I'll go to the Homestead Museum (I think that's what it's called). I just can't bring myself to go to a place to "view societies in their natural habitat" almost like animals--it seems unnatural to me to label people as being fundamentally different just because they behave in a way different from me. I have a similar aversion to the touristy luaus in Hawaii. I'm not opposed to watching displays of traditions like dancing, though, because they're usually part of an all encompassing festival where you interact normally with the participants before and after the display.
The average tourist isn't going to walk up to the Amish or to the dancers at a luau and strike up a normal everyday conversation. And that's where I feel uncomfortable being an observer. I wouldn't want outsiders comeing to watch me do something I care about when I'm not choosing to put myself onto display. (I'm always doubtful that people who dance at luaus every evening give the same performance as they would if it were a special one, done once a year, to honor some tradition.)
Watch The Amish on PBS. See more from American Experience.
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