Since I don’t have a debate to prepare for, or any mandatory reading…what am I doing? Why, I’m watching The Real World Awards Bash!
The hilarious (and frankly, quite disturbing) thing about this is not only the awesome walk down memory lane, but also the rather marked changes both in the show and in society over the past eighteen years.
Every shot of Real Worlders from the first eight seasons or so show them off in a corner…having a cocktail, taking it all in. Then…every shot of Real Worlders in seasons since then involve a minimum of two women rubbing up against each other.
Then, they showed this rather poignant tribute to Pedro Zamora, and then all of the gay men on The Real World since then talking about how Pedro paved the way for them. Um…I don’t think Pedro’s legacy was to give young gay men in America the freedom to go on MTV to hook up with other gay men in hot tubs, and then to throw violent hissy fits when people judge them. I’m just sayin’. That was the great thing about Pedro…his whole thing was HIV/AIDS awareness and education. His sexuality was secondary.
Politics aside, I still believe The Real World was a fantastic social experiment back in it’s heyday. And I know that makes me sound old and crotchety, but after the Vegas season I couldn’t do anything but go, “Really? Is that all you’ve got now?” Back in the day they didn’t pick the hottest women and the hottest guys based on the Hookup Potential Model (very scientific…factored in all sorts of variables including body piercings, bikinis, and bleep potential), and involved kids our age who were doing what kids our age did…work, go to school, and try to stumble around young adult life with as little injury as possible. I guess now all they do is swear, drink, try to sleep with anyone and everyone, and complain.
Side note: I was just telling CU that all of this “race relations” hooey they’ve been talking about TRW addressing in the past “few” seasons was nothing compared to the smackdown between Alabama Julie and Kevin on the first season in New York and then - there they are, up for “Best Fight”.
But…I guess The Real World is just like any other TV show that’s groundbreaking…after a few seasons, the formula starts leaning towards casting generic stereotypes and going for what viewers want which I guess, is screaming matches and big boobs. You know, kind of like Survivor.
And, I’ll admit it - I had a crush on Judd from the San Francisco season.
April 5th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Aw, no MTV here so I can’t watch it!
But I agree - it was the best back in the day.
April 6th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Shoot. I forgot to record this!
I used to LOVE this show, but after the first 5 or so seasons, it just got to be too much. And I got to be too old.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I watched it off and on in the 90s but gave up after the Hawaii season, I think. I get tired of all these reality shows picking people based upon attraction rather than personality — even The Apprentice is guilty of it.