Of all the TV shows to watch nowadays, it always seems puzzling that Dr Pimple Popper would be such a hit. But, the TLC show has been running since 2018, it gets millions of views every year and is onto its sixth season in 2021.
The show follows Dr Sandra Lee, AKA ‘Dr Pimple Popper’, as she tackles all kinds of cysts, lipomas, miliums and much more. It’s safe to say that the TLC show isn’t for the squeamish, which leads me to wonder why viewers have such a fascination with popping zits and pimples…
The TLC show explored
The premise of Dr Pimple Popper is great, after all, Dr Sandra Lee is putting her dermatology talents to incredible use by changing people’s lives.
Many of the patients who appear on the show are unable to live their lives as they’d want to, some can’t get jobs and others want to have surgery done before huge life events such as weddings.
At the core, Dr Pimple Popper is a feel-good reality TV show, but what is shown to viewers on-screen is just a bit too gruesome for me.
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Why Dr Pimple Popper isn’t for me
If anyone else has ever wondered why someone popping pimples is popular viewing, you’re not alone and there are actual psychology studies into what those people are enjoying about cysts and what not…
As per Today, “Getting pleasure out of watching things that are disgusting, such as pimple popping, is an example of “benign masochism,” where human beings actually enjoy their physiological reactions to innately negative experiences, one study found.“
The same people that enjoy seeing pus ooze from a zit are the same folk that enjoy watching horror movies apparently.
Given that I’d rather not have the content of a horror movie playing over and over in my head after watching it, perhaps it makes sense that the sight of Dr Pimple Popper wielding her surgical implements towards a growth isn’t my thing, either.
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Why do viewers love Dr Pimple Popper?
As studies have found, people love the gruesome-ness of Dr Pimple Popper. The fact that the show helps people out – I’m all for, but I’d just prefer not to physically see the procedure take place.
And while the majority of DPP fans are up for some surgical removal shots, pimple popping videos and jaw-dropping sights of growths, others actually think it’s too much at times, too.
One person wrote on Twitter in 2021: “Note to self: Don’t watch Dr Pimple Popper clips on TikTok before bedtime. Don’t watch Dr Pimple Popper clips on TikTok before bedtime. Don’t watch Dr Pimple Popper clips on TikTok before bedtime.“
Another said that the show was “oddly satisfying“. Curiosity looks to be the main motivation for watching the TLC show. For now, I guess I’ll have to continue staying away from the Pimple Popping Doctor’s IG page and any content related to the show, really. But, for those that love the rawness of it all – season 6 is well underway in 2021!
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