'Breakthrough
With Tony Robbins,' lifting
Certainly lifting if you get into the feel-goodness
By Tom Conroy
Jul 26, 2010
As the critic Arlene Croce once wrote — we’re simplifying a lot here — certain works are impossible to review because one’s sympathy overwhelms one’s ability to judge.
The premiere episode of NBC’s series “Breakthrough With Tony Robbins,” airing tomorrow, Tuesday, July 27, at 8 p.m., is one of those works. Robbins, a well-known motivational speaker and author, tries to help a severely disabled man and his wife rebuild their relationship and find happiness. Viewers who are willing to turn off their own critical voices will be moved. Others may question the show’s manipulative nature and may wonder whether it has any instructional value, but they’ll probably hate themselves for it.
The series, Robbins says, is dedicated to “helping families in crisis transform their lives — in only 30 days.” The subjects in the premiere are a couple named Frank and Kristen. At their wedding reception, he says, he jumped into the pool and suffered an injury that left him a quadriplegic.
It’s hard to say this without sounding unsympathetic, but Frank has the use of his hands and arms, so one would think he was a paraplegic. The show clearly gives the impression early on that he’s incapable of caring for himself at all. When viewers later see him pushing his own wheelchair and working the controls of a specially equipped truck, they may feel misled.
Kristen, however, seems overwhelmed by having been forced to be his caregiver before she could be his wife. After Robbins invites them to his house in Fiji, one can’t help applauding their good fortune, whether or not one has much faith in the techniques of people like Robbins.
Sure enough, the steps they’re supposedly following — for example, step 1 is “Re-write your story” — often seem to have little to do with what’s happening onscreen. That seems like a quibble, however, when we see the couple having a breakthrough in communication or sharing a moment like a skydive over the island.
But the skydive seems like something that the Make-a-Wish Foundation could just as easily have provided. Again, it’s hard to think that without feeling as if one is begrudging this deserving couple their good fortune.
As viewers who have seen his infomercials know, Robbins is an imposing presence. As he walks the couple through various experiences, it’s hard to imagine a better cheerleader. What’s more, 30 days is an impressive commitment in the quick-fix world of self-improvement TV.
But too much of the couple’s progress seems predicated on having a wealthy sponsor like Robbins. The show never addresses the question why Frank and Kristen didn’t have his truck made handicapped accessible before Robbins stepped in.
Robbins admits that some of Frank’s progress may seem purely physical, but adds, “Any change you’re going to have in your life has to start with a change in your beliefs.” Viewers who think about that may not be convinced.
A segment in which Frank learns to play wheelchair rugby, a.k.a. murderball, does seem to fit in with the lesson offered: that sometimes Kristen needs to let him struggle. But generally it’s unclear how viewers are supposed to apply those lessons or take the steps in the program themselves.
“Breakthrough” works beautifully as an exercise in feel-good TV. But the minute viewers start to question it, they’ll feel bad.
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