I suppose that there’s always one show that I go into hyper-overdrive about each season…perusing TWoP for every annonymous comment that will sway or confirm an opinion, or at best, make me giggle. Usually it’s AI, but I’m doing my best not to get so involved in that this season, mostly because of the time commitment, but also because I just have no interest in furthering the nonsense that seems to be the judging. Of course, with the favorable reviews so far, I’m afraid that I might just get sucked in around Hollywood. (Which, truthfully, is when I ‘ve been getting sucked in the past few years anyway.)
However. The current interest-that’s-turned-into-obsession is RHoBH. An enormously guilty pleasure for reasons that I have yet to figure out. Especially because of the special kind of crazy insanity that is being shown. The train wreck started interestingly enough in the drama brought by Camille, but since the Dinner Party from Hell, it’s gotten uncomfortably insane.
I know that between that and Jersey Shore, it’s mainly a morbid fascination that there are people in the world that will actually behave that way and be filmed for posterity doing it. I understand that we all have our own special brand of crazy, but that doesn’t mean that I’m willing to put it out there for the scrutiny of the internet folks who have too much time on their hands to analyze and stop frame and judge over and over again. Which leads me to also believe that we have created such a fame-whoring society that there is the slightest possibility that this is vaguely scripted and presented for just these reasons. On the other hand, it is producer manipulation at its finest, which makes the sideline quarterbacking even more ridiculous. Out of the thousands of hours of video, a handful of people are able to splice together a story that supposes to show reality. And we, the viewers, are left making judgement calls about peoples’ lives because of the six hours worth of programming we’ve been allowed to see. In whatever context it’s been presented in purporting ‘fact’.
I’m not sure who, then, is the bigger fool?
Definitely those that allow themselves to be portrayed in any way a producer sees fit (even if it is manufactured specifically to make someone look bad) and throughout perpetuity. (There have been leaks of various contracts of various shows throughout the years and it truly is frightening upon reading the verbage and why, oh, WHY, anyone would allow this to happen to them. Are they so disillusioned as to think that they are the most wonderful person on the planet and there is No Possible Way that anyone else would think anything differently about them?
Apparently.
However. (Again.)
On that same note, how ridiculous is it that I scour pages upon pages of what ends up being mostly the same people offering the same arguments/discussions of these people we don’t know and trying to analyze the truth from these little tiny segments that are thrown to us like bones? Doesn’t the fact that I perpetuate the madness make me just as culpable as the idiots who present this for my ‘entertainment’ in the first place?
There are plenty of folks who see it for what it is. Strictly the entertainment of ‘reality’. Which, I would hope, many of those same people realize after this period of time is nothing Close to reality. And I realize that, too. But just as I believe that AI is a case study in psychology/sociology than it is any form of singing contest, I hope that I can avoid getting sucked into the actual drama of all of it and the black hole of ‘what does this say about society as a whole?’
Unavoidable, methinks, unless one is able to see it only as the aforementioned brand of entertainment and not delve too much more deeply into ‘character development’ and not get too sucked into ‘how does this parallel my life/I am So much better than That!’, which is what I do think a large majority of people watch these train wrecks for.
I can always try to put myself above those that watch what I consider the truly trash ‘reality’ shows, such as The Bachelor, but then I do get sucked into some fringe phenomenon and realize that there will always be some form of drug for each of us.
Or Hollywood, as a whole, would cease to exist.
ak
