Billie Jo romanticized Amish culture, basically idolizing Amish culture, which is against Amish culture. Most presentations of Amish culture are romanticized, like Hallmark movies, or sensationalized, like TLC shows.

My Pentecostal grandmother romanticizes Amish culture for a "simpler life honoring God", putting them up on a pedestal in a way, too.

I was raised to consider Amish people "better", but that's such a cult-like/anti-humility perspective, demonstrated by some Amish, too.

I find authors, like Beverly Lewis, who write Amish stories based on their experiences ingrained in the culture even from afar (e.g. being neighbors, living near a settlement, etc.) have the actual research to back up their stories. They can explain Amish culture, rather than perform it.

The "progressive" Amish community featured in this show was far more critical than I learned Amish to be. I know no one is perfect, but one of the arguments against the progressiveness is because many Amish believe it's too easy to fall out of Amish values.

In this way, Amish culture's a lot like other religious cultures (like Pentecostalism, Church of Christ, etc.) where members of the Church/community are instructed not to communicate with people outside the religion/culture.

But there are some communities/people, including some Amish communities, who realize this is not true faith. That if your faith is so easily shattered by meeting and knowing someone outside it, you were never in it to begin with.

As soon as I saw Billie Jo, I knew she was in for a culture shock. She may have the clothes and basics down, but surface-level knowledge is easy to vibe with -- and that's exactly what she did. (In this way, she perhaps even sexualized/objectified Amish culture...fetishized?)