Reality from Hell

At this day and age, unless you reside on the moon, you have certainly came across all the “intellectual” reality shows VH1 has to offer. Currently, shows such as My Antonio, Megan Wants a Millionaire, and Real Chance of Love 2 are scattered throughout the channel, intriguing us to find out what is really real about these shows? Thousands, if not millions, of viewers tune in every Sunday to watch the new episodes in which they witness a nervous breakdown of one of the contestants, a sizzling girl fight for the attention of their main squeeze, or to watch the larger-than-life powers of a self-proclaimed gold digger. From a logical standpoint, these shows are not inspirational, educational, and better yet, they don’t intrigue us on any other level than pure entertainment; but if we understand that these shows are kind of, pardon my French, stupid, why do we watch them religiously?
For starters, it may be the unrealistic appeal of reality. In other words, the platform of these shows is so ridiculous that it blows our mind, beyond any understanding. Think about it, will YOU ever find love in a house of 20 sex-craved, alcohol-induced, fame-chasers? Better yet, will you ever put your partners through a series of physical challenges and contests to prove their affection? Call me crazy, but I have high doubts that the most sufficient place to look for love is in a fake mansion, surrounded by 20 competitors, who swap silava on weekly, if not daily basis. In otherwords, the entire foundation of the “search of love” is not exactly your common setting. Don’t get me wrong, I am well aware that these shows are created for purely entertainment purposes, but the deep portrayal of the search for geniune connection from these contestants hits far from home, and maybe that’s exactly why we watch it. Maybe, the idea of having over a dozen strangers fight for our attention is unrealistic, but it’s certainly something that none of us would say no to.
The second reason for staying loyal to these reality shows is the characters; the casting and editing of the shows is marvelous. Remember Daisy de la Hoya from Rock of Love 2, who later landed her own show Daisy of Love? She’s certainly one of my favorites. She was quite the controversial character on ROL2 and her personality is the reason why most people even bothered to watch the show in the first place. Same goes for New York from Flavor of Love; while she may not be the brightest crayon in the box, she’s lively, outrageous, and leaves you with your jaw dropped as soon as she sets foot through the door. These personalities are hard to ignore. You can love them or hate them, but you just can’t seem to take your eyes of them. In addition, through tears, fights, and romantic dates, week by week, we develop relationships with these characters. Whether we want to throw them off a cliff or make sweet love to them, it’s still a relationship of some sort; there’s still a sense of attachment. So chances are, if you began watching the show from episode one, you will watch it until the very reunion.
So what did we learn from these shows? Probably nothing, other than the fact that 12 Pack/Dave has been trying very hard to land his own show and by now, he truly deserves it. We also learned that Heather from Rock of Love 2 can easily kick some butt according to the reunion show; and we are still confused on whether or not Blonde Baller from Real Chance of Love 2 actually has a boyfriend in a different area code — although I’m sure we’ll find out the answer to that one next week. In either case, whether you love these shows or despise them, stay tunned because it’s certainly a great source of entertainment. While it may not make you the next Einstein, it is guaranteed to make you laugh!