The Real Fake Housewives of America

So finally I am writing my first blog and my first thought is, "Where do I start?!" So many things are going on in this crazy world we live in, what can I possibly say to avoid "beating the dead horse" that bloggers, journalists, and all other writers of today continually do day in and day out? Well, it finally hit me! As long as there's news, the dead horse will continually be beat because hey, we all have opinions and there's self-gratification somewhere in expressing one's thoughts, or views so hey I might as well enlighten you all with mine!

Now I'm sure unless you haven't had access to basic cable, or just live under a rock, that you have caught a glimpse of the new phenomenon of "The Real Housewives of....(insert city here)" where you get to witness the lives of dozens of women which somehow gets summed up in all of 8 hours, or 15-20 if you buy the season DVDs with behind-the-scenes footage.  In these shows the families showcase their strengths (which are very minimal), their weaknesses (which are very apparent), and all that's in between.  I am going to focus on the Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Now the city where the show is cast, itself should come as a shocker.  With a show set in Atlanta, Georgia you can only expect to be introduced to some characters and plenty of train wrecks.  From the drivers to the random people wandering down the street, every person highlighted in this show seems to be extravagant and over-the-top which adds up to one heck of a show.  I'm pretty sure that when they were casting their work was cut out because in Atlanta, you never know what to expect or what you'll see! Now I'm not bashing Atlanta because I love Atlanta but nothing suprises me in that city anymore.

First off, the show is obviously scripted.  In order to keep viewers the producers have no choice but to go to the ends of the world to find the most jacked up, desperate D, E, and F-list celebrities and turn them into actors.  Every now and then decent, upstanding individuals will make it through i.e. Eric Snow's ex-wife Deshawn and Lisa Wu-Hartwell, but as you can see they are no longer a part of the show and they are probably better off enjoying having actual credibility.  I mean why would a TV show want to show successful, nice women who are actually wives, yes actually wives.

Minus Cynthia Bailey who just got married,  and Phaedra Parks, no one is actually married anymore.  How can you name the show The Real Housewives but the majority of the cast isn't even married or can't keep a husband or has someone else's. This is the picture they want to paint of marriage.  The sanctity of marriage has been compromised and sold-out and millions and millions of viewers are being disullusioned by these extravangant characters.

The basis of the whole show is to show irate women fighting, lying, and clawing their way just  to forgive and make-up later on which in reality is the Christian thing to do because hey tension overtakes all of us at one point or another but to base a whole show on just the theme of drama shows the level of lowness that American mass media has taken to attract attention, but here's the kicker; people actually glorify the foolishness of the women instead of the message that is really being portrayed.

My Twitter feed runs rampant with people updating Twitterland on the happenings of the show but not one positive aspect is pointed out from the show, just the negativity.  So my question is where are the people who see right through this show,  If 15 million people watch this show a week just for the drama and foolishness where are the viewers who actually are concerned about the well-being and actions of these women that our young ladies are looking up to.  Yes this show may be for adults only, but I'm going to bet that the majority of women watching this show are watching it right next to their daughters.

So it's up to the parents to point out that although they might be watching the show there are always lessons to be learned from it and they should be able to point out the "reality" of this show and the reality is that they are fabricated,  ratings-driven, and a glimpse into the future of our young people and the image that they will portay one day!

MTL