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Identity

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 8, age appropriate for kids over 13; suggested age 11.

  • Is it any good?

    2.0
  • Common Sense says

    Iffy concept relies on making snap judgments.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 11–13

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    Forces players to judge others by their appearance -- some are obvious (potentially reinforcing stereotypes), and others aren't. What does this teach us? Standard game show greed.
  • Violence:

    Not an issue.
  • Sex:

    Occasional sexual innuendo, especially related to how someone looks (athletic, etc.). Some skimpy clothes.
  • Language:

    Not an issue.
  • Consumerism:

    Commercials linked to the show feature kids hawking mouthwash while pretending to be playing the game.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Not an issue.

What Parents Need to Know

This review of Identity was written by Sierra Filucci

Parents need to know that this game show asks contestants (and, by extension, viewers) to make assumptions about people based on their appearance, but the pros and cons of using superficial characteristics like race, age, and body size to categorize someone are never discussed. Some of the people involved in the show wear skimpy, sexy clothing (like a bikini top and sarong), and occasionally a contestant makes a flirtatious comment toward one of them.

Families Can Talk About

Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
  • Families can talk about judging people based on their appearance. What's wrong with making assumptions based on looks? Is it ever helpful to guess who someone is by looking at them? Have you ever been judged on your appearance? Have you ever made a mistake when making an assumption about someone? What messages is this show sending to kids and other viewers?
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More on Identity

What’s the Story?

Hosted by Penn Jillette (of comedy duo Penn & Teller), game show IDENTITY asks contestants to match 12 strangers with their avocations simply by looking at them. Contestants are provided with a list of professions or characteristics -- such as "painter" or "IRS agent" or "heart transplant recipient" -- with which to connect the 12. As Jillette says, "It's all about snap judgments" -- and with a rotund Asian man on stage wearing nothing but a loincloth, it's not hard to quickly locate the sumo wrestler in the bunch. (Yes, some of the connections are that easy, but it gets harder as the money pot grows closer to the $500,000 grand prize.) Contestants do get three "helps": one missed match, one "tridentity" (in which the group shrinks down to three possible matches), and one chance to consult the experts (an FBI agent, a body language expert, and a psychologist), and mid-game contestants also get some help from friends or relatives on the sidelines.

Is It Any Good?

While the concept of judging people by the way they look seems ripe for discussion (and controversy), Identity does nothing to engage the subject -- showing only that yes, sometimes a person's clothes help you figure out what kind of work they do (duh!) and sometimes your assumptions are wrong (a young woman in a dress might be a termite inspector -- double duh!). Once players take a guess and "seal the identity" by pressing their hand on a futuristic-looking cylinder, an annoyingly long period of time elapses in an attempt to build suspense before the stranger-on-a-pedestal reveals his or her identity with a silly quip (retired English professor? "You passed the test!").

Jillette is a pleasant enough host, and he doesn't have the tinge of creepiness of 1 vs 100's Bob Saget or the self-mocking exaggeration of Show Me the Money's William Shatner. But overall, the show doesn't have much to latch on to -- no clever strategies to employ, no trivia to guess at -- and once the easy choices are eliminated, players would be fools not to take the stack of accumulated cash and go home a little bit richer.

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Our Members Say

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer Age 16
    Lives in New Hampshire
    I rate this title on for age 0 and give it 4.0

    I laughed

  2. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in Georgia
    I rate this title on for age 0 and give it 5.0

    I love this show! I wish the week long premere never ends!

  3. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in Kansas
    I rate this title off for age 0 and give it 1.0

    i lost 6 brain cells watching this

    i hate this show its so dumb and stupid i am glad that it got canceled

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