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Taosman
Your Cousin In New Mexxico
MTV's 'Real World': Modeling Moral Anarchy to Our Youth 6/28/2002
By Sarah Trafford
Never has there been a more inaccurate name for a television series than that of MTV's pseudo-reality-television program The Real World.
In 11 seasons of Real World, there have been more unrealistic representations of fringe counter-cultures than one can count on two hands and two feet. Between the disproportionately large number of practicing homosexuals, to the strictly enforced ideology, MTV's The Real World is bringing up a generation of people who honestly believe this carefully crafted charade to be a true reflection of modern life.
The program started in 1992 as a TV invention?put seven young strangers together, stick them in a well-decorated house or apartment in an interesting locale and watch them go about their daily life. The Real World has had seasons in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Hawaii, Boston, Miami, New Orleans, Seattle and Chicago. Television cameras follow the cast everywhere they go, in an effort for viewers to get a taste of what goes on amongst people in their early 20s.
It was an instant hit for the puberty-through-college age group. In creating a television show about hormone-laden 20-somethings in their own apartment playground, teens got to watch role models without the ?model? behavior of scripted sit-coms.
Teenagers across the country and across the globe watch The Real World every week for their dose of soap opera ?reality.? Since the show is taped over a 6-month period 24 hours a day, only the most television-worthy material can be selected for the 30-minute weekly show. As one might expect, only the most outrageous and basest behaviors survive the editing?drinking, sex, crude and unusual experiences, parties, and general hedonistic pleasures?all crammed into a half-hour segment. Even Christian kids watch the program ?for its entertainment value??many perhaps deluding themselves that it is not undermining their Biblical values.
?The Real World glorifies 'alternative' lifestyles by promoting them in a consequence-free environment,? college student Jessica Echard explains. ?It's used as a vehicle for promoting these interactions, which in turn shapes the way society is expected to act. It's really a show about changing our standards by chipping away at our innocence.?
The Role Models That Aren't
The program attracts decidedly atypical young people who are looking for their 15 minutes of fame in Hollywood (or in Playboy), and whose brazen antics are likely to draw an audience in the same way a car wreck does?by appealing to the most sensational of human interests.
This is clearly the case in the current cast of The Real World. Take Aneesa, a bisexual/lesbian who loves to run around naked and refuses to close the door when using the restroom, even when asked repeatedly by cast members. Or Cara, another cast member who is on anti-depressants and who has ?hooked-up? (been physically intimate) with more than four different people during the season, according to the MTV Web site. Cara's roommate Tanya has breast implants that she claims helped her get through an eating disorder. Chris is a gay man who is figuring out his boyfriend situation (yes, two of the seven cast members are homosexual). And Keri and Kyle are flirting and ?hooking-up? throughout the beginning of the show despite Kyle's girlfriend at home. Theo, the African-American cast member, is the lone voice of Christian principles, but those are called into question when he ?hooks up? with two girls (at the same time) in the apartment's hot tub.
Sadly, the very same people engaging in such unimpressive behavior have actually become the heroes of today's youth culture. In Boston this May at the Gay/Straight Youth Pride March (an annual celebration of gay youth organized by the state of Massachusetts), The Real World cast members Dan (Miami), Ruthie (Hawaii), Genesis (Boston), Norm (New York), Danny (New Orleans) and Chris (Chicago)?all homosexuals?were honored as featured speakers and guests. Former cast member Eric Nies (New York: he is not a homosexual) went on to host the dance/workout show The Grind on MTV. Many of The Real World cast members are also invited back to do features and competition programs on MTV.
Real World Lowlights
The following are some lowlights from The Real World over the years:
?The Real World was the first reality television program I was exposed to as a kid,? college student Courtney Davison said. ?I watched it then because the people were older and seemed cool; I watch it now because I think it's funny?and I can relate to it because that's how some people I know really act.?
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In the case of The Real World and ?Generation X's? laissez faire morality, we may never know. But one thing is clear: the success of this program does not bode well for America's future.
Sarah Trafford, 20, is an intern for Culture & Family Institute in Washington, D.C. Miss Trafford attends The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, where she is majoring in Political Science and Women's Studies. She was born and raised in Upper Arlington, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. Sarah admits that she has watched many episodes of The Real World, but only for ?research purposes.?
By Sarah Trafford
Never has there been a more inaccurate name for a television series than that of MTV's pseudo-reality-television program The Real World.
In 11 seasons of Real World, there have been more unrealistic representations of fringe counter-cultures than one can count on two hands and two feet. Between the disproportionately large number of practicing homosexuals, to the strictly enforced ideology, MTV's The Real World is bringing up a generation of people who honestly believe this carefully crafted charade to be a true reflection of modern life.
The program started in 1992 as a TV invention?put seven young strangers together, stick them in a well-decorated house or apartment in an interesting locale and watch them go about their daily life. The Real World has had seasons in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Hawaii, Boston, Miami, New Orleans, Seattle and Chicago. Television cameras follow the cast everywhere they go, in an effort for viewers to get a taste of what goes on amongst people in their early 20s.
It was an instant hit for the puberty-through-college age group. In creating a television show about hormone-laden 20-somethings in their own apartment playground, teens got to watch role models without the ?model? behavior of scripted sit-coms.
Teenagers across the country and across the globe watch The Real World every week for their dose of soap opera ?reality.? Since the show is taped over a 6-month period 24 hours a day, only the most television-worthy material can be selected for the 30-minute weekly show. As one might expect, only the most outrageous and basest behaviors survive the editing?drinking, sex, crude and unusual experiences, parties, and general hedonistic pleasures?all crammed into a half-hour segment. Even Christian kids watch the program ?for its entertainment value??many perhaps deluding themselves that it is not undermining their Biblical values.
?The Real World glorifies 'alternative' lifestyles by promoting them in a consequence-free environment,? college student Jessica Echard explains. ?It's used as a vehicle for promoting these interactions, which in turn shapes the way society is expected to act. It's really a show about changing our standards by chipping away at our innocence.?
The Role Models That Aren't
The program attracts decidedly atypical young people who are looking for their 15 minutes of fame in Hollywood (or in Playboy), and whose brazen antics are likely to draw an audience in the same way a car wreck does?by appealing to the most sensational of human interests.
This is clearly the case in the current cast of The Real World. Take Aneesa, a bisexual/lesbian who loves to run around naked and refuses to close the door when using the restroom, even when asked repeatedly by cast members. Or Cara, another cast member who is on anti-depressants and who has ?hooked-up? (been physically intimate) with more than four different people during the season, according to the MTV Web site. Cara's roommate Tanya has breast implants that she claims helped her get through an eating disorder. Chris is a gay man who is figuring out his boyfriend situation (yes, two of the seven cast members are homosexual). And Keri and Kyle are flirting and ?hooking-up? throughout the beginning of the show despite Kyle's girlfriend at home. Theo, the African-American cast member, is the lone voice of Christian principles, but those are called into question when he ?hooks up? with two girls (at the same time) in the apartment's hot tub.
Sadly, the very same people engaging in such unimpressive behavior have actually become the heroes of today's youth culture. In Boston this May at the Gay/Straight Youth Pride March (an annual celebration of gay youth organized by the state of Massachusetts), The Real World cast members Dan (Miami), Ruthie (Hawaii), Genesis (Boston), Norm (New York), Danny (New Orleans) and Chris (Chicago)?all homosexuals?were honored as featured speakers and guests. Former cast member Eric Nies (New York: he is not a homosexual) went on to host the dance/workout show The Grind on MTV. Many of The Real World cast members are also invited back to do features and competition programs on MTV.
Real World Lowlights
The following are some lowlights from The Real World over the years:
- In the most recent season, the shower in the apartment is double-headed; at one point Theo (the most outwardly Christian cast member) tries to show Aneesa that she isn't a lesbian by showering with her;
- On the The Real World site there is a ?steamy? picture flipbook of the cast members naked, in bed with each other, and in the shower;
- In the last (2001) season two friends of the cast got a hold of the video booth and had sex on camera-clips of which were shown (with bare private parts fuzzed out) in one episode;
- A cast member from the 1995 London Real World received a pig's heart with a nail through it for a Valentines Day gift from his girlfriend.
?The Real World was the first reality television program I was exposed to as a kid,? college student Courtney Davison said. ?I watched it then because the people were older and seemed cool; I watch it now because I think it's funny?and I can relate to it because that's how some people I know really act.?
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In the case of The Real World and ?Generation X's? laissez faire morality, we may never know. But one thing is clear: the success of this program does not bode well for America's future.
Sarah Trafford, 20, is an intern for Culture & Family Institute in Washington, D.C. Miss Trafford attends The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, where she is majoring in Political Science and Women's Studies. She was born and raised in Upper Arlington, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. Sarah admits that she has watched many episodes of The Real World, but only for ?research purposes.?
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Well yes, there's that, but you're also looked at as a joke or the rest of your life.:)Taosman;690980; said:C'mon! Who you kidding!
All that partying and nooky?
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