'reality' bites

posts about #realitybites more →
Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
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Katherine Jackson Won't Allow Michael's Kids To Be On Reality Show
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Megan Wants A Millionaire: Solo Date With Murdered Model's Husband

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anibundel
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
I get the sense that the White House's outrage about this is less about the security breach it represents, and more about how they *really* don't want the president used as a prop on reality TV.
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CrankyOldBroad
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
I like how you say "terrible reality stars" as though there are any good ones.
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anibundel
11/28/09

@CrankyOldBroad: There are some good ones. Two Words: Kelly Clarkson.
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Sputnik_Sweetheart
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
I think John Cole said it very well on his blog earlier today. Even though these two were able to sneak into the state dinner, they still had to go through screenings and metal detectors. If one of them did go crazy and try to attack the president, there were secret service agents all around. Yes, it is embarrassing, but no one was hurt and these two only wanted (other than getting attention) to meet famous people. The media is making out to be a bigger deal than it actually was. If you are really that upset about it MSM, stop talking about them and let them fade into obscurity. That is punishment enough.
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formergr
11/29/09

@Sputnik_Sweetheart: OK, but not to be morbid, but it would be really easy to sneak poison in past metal detectors and even purse checks in screening (disguise as eye drops or what have you), and then expose the President to it somehow in the receiving line. It might sound like a stretch, but I've heard of stranger things that were tried in the cold war to assassinate people.
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Dauphine
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
And some people wonder why I would rather re-read Diana Wynne Jones's books than turn on the television.
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lurkerbynature
11/28/09

@Dauphine: Now I'm tempted to go reread Howl's Moving Castle.
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Ginmar Rienne
11/28/09

@lurkerbynature: Lloyd Alexander's The High King does it to me every time.
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Diziet_Sma
11/29/09

@Ginmar Rienne: Oh, The Chronicles Of Prydain! My favorite books as a kid! If I could heart you again, I would.
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Ginmar Rienne
11/29/09

@Diziet_Sma: Actually, shouldn't you be hearting Lloyd Alexander? :P
Which is why I feel so sorry for the Twihards: that choked up feeling I still get to this day when I re-read that book or The Once and Future King is extremely dear to me.
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lurkerbynature
11/29/09

@Ginmar Rienne: I'd have to go with Taran Wanderer myself.
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Ginmar Rienne
11/29/09

@lurkerbynature: Really, can you go wrong here with Alexander at all? Have you ever read The Book of Merlyn? It ought to be a law: "Be it enacted, that if you make a movie about anything that even vaguely touches on King Arthur, you better be able to evoke nobility, tragedy and self sacrifice in such a fashion as to give the audience an opportunity for a good old fashioned cry."
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lurkerbynature
11/30/09

@Ginmar Rienne: Well, the Vesper Holly series is only just fun adventure, but not everything can be as fantastic and hard-hitting as the Westmark trilogy or personally affecting as Taran Wanderer. :)

It's been a long time since I last reread T. H. White, but I did read The Book of Merlyn at some point. From what I recall, I liked it but was glad it was published separately from The Once and Future King because the tone was so very different.

I think there is one glaring exception to your law, but Monty Python already took care of that.
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hughman
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
reality shows hit hot because the audience either mocks them or wants to be them which pretty much covers every demographic across the board. obvs. they are scripted towards this goal, swimming in material things while acting like psychotic monkeys obsessed with flinging poo and fingering themselves. why give them bananas? they're just going to slip on the peel and end up in a circus.
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regazza_di_lupo
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
I wish Reality TV would die. It is almost never interesting, and I think it's making our society... more rude? It seems like we hold up these awful examples of manner-less human beings as the 'in' crowd, we want to be like them, even though we hate them (celebrity frenemies? what a ridiculous term, but I think it applies), and it's like a poison leaching into everything. We watch them cheat on their partners, back-stab for money, mentally abuse one another, overdose and starve themselves, and we just CAN'T WAIT to see what happens next. It's sick, honestly. I'd rather have my fiction and find characters to care about- not people I 'love to hate'.
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thespaceygirl
11/28/09

@regazza_di_lupo: me too. i've been saying it for years. but i'm a hypocrite, because i've worked on a few reality shows. sadly, most people working on them hate them too.
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regazza_di_lupo
11/28/09

@thespaceygirl: I think, honestly, that reality tv kills creativity. It seems like as a society we rely more on people's breakdowns as entertainment than coming up with fresh ideas.
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LvV
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
I have no love for the Gosselins or that selfish Suleman woman, but the Salahis have crossed a line to me. The Gosselins and Suleman have made some spectacularly bad decisions, but they aren't criminals (yet).

Maybe it's because I love our first family so much -- and because I know how many dangerous nutballs there are out there who don't love them -- that I am utterly outraged that these two aspiring famewhores were able to shake President Obama's hand.

The Salahis should be thrown in jail and Bravo should say something like, "We have no intention of in casting anyone who thinks it's acceptable to trespass a state event."

I mean, seriously: what the fuck? People should hate these two instantly, not reward them with an entertainment career.
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Diziet_Sma promoted this comment Edited by LvV at 11/28/09 2:58 PM LvV was starred LvV was unstarred

Diziet_Sma
11/28/09

@LvV: It makes me shudder to think that some right-wing nutjob may now be inspired by how easy it was to get past security. Seriously. This is NOT funny and they should not be rewarded for it.
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Lysergic Asset
11/28/09

@LvV: You are every possible kind of right. This is nuts, and we shouldn't be acquiescing to it or worse, applauding and encouraging such abhorrent behavior.
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Lysergic Asset
11/28/09

@Diziet_Sma: Exactly. The mind-boggling security breach is the issue. The famewhores are absolutely irrelevant... except if a couple of white supremacists decide to follow their example. Gigantic sensibility FAIL.
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heykoukla
11/28/09

@LvV: I would have some respect for someone who crashed the State Dinner to make a fuss for a cause they truly cared about, whether that be gay marriage, the war in Afghanistan, whatever (and by "someone making a fuss" I mean someone on the same side of the political fence as me, not a right-wing loon). But the fact they crashed it just because they giggle giggle ha ha giggle just want to be famous just fills me with so much contempt for these vile people.
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Hana Maru, used up old slutbag on the pole
11/28/09

@LvV: You're mad at them because you're afraid for the Obamas' safety? Why not be happy that they exposed the lax security at the White House? Hopefully someone with an intention to do harm won't be able to get in without a check of the guest list next time.

And I'm not sure for what they would be thrown in jail. They didn't misrepresent themselves, and they were allowed in.
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LvV
11/28/09

@Hana Maru: That's a very good point, and of course I agree that heads should roll at the Secret Service. They failed completely.

I still think the Salahis should be made an example of, if indeed it is legal to do so. To @TrilbyO: 's point, state dinners are different than run-of-the-mill civilian affairs, where crashing may indeed be funny. But because of all the nuts out there who might seek to hurt the president and his family, I don't think the Salahis' act was harmless -- although I agree with you that the Salahis themselves are probably just silly people -- because of the ideas it may give the less harmless.

Maybe that is a stretch to some, but the Salahis are grown-ass adults and therefore IMO should not have done something so reckless just to get themselves on a goddamn 6th-rate Bravo spinoff. So if we can't jail them for this, I'd hope that we as a society would shun them in their attempts at fame. I don't want to see people rewarded for assholitry.
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Edited by LvV at 11/28/09 9:45 PM LvV was starred LvV was unstarred

Hana Maru, used up old slutbag on the pole
11/29/09

@LvV: Well, they surely will face social consequences, considering their actions embarrassed such a beloved president(hopefully embarrassed into better security) I hardly think that they can be blamed for giving terrorists ideas. I mean, now the bad guys know how to get their picture taken with Joe and Jill Biden? It never occurred to them to go to the White House for a gala dinner?
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missinaction
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
It's interesting to read this post, Hortense, and I agree with a lot of what you say. I hate these shows, and the people who buy into them, and the people who are on them. It's soul-sucking stuff.
I don't watch any of these crappy "reality" shows. But I seem to know an awful lot about them FROM READING ABOUT THEM ON JEZEBEL. It's unavoidable - as much as I try to ignore any posts with Real Housewives, and that Spencer idiot, and the horrible people who produce too many offspring, awareness of them seeps into my brain just by perusing the post titles on here.
Lots of Jezzies seem to watch them. So complaining about the shows lowering our standards as a society seems a bit rich. They do, but even people on here are allowing them to.
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hortense
11/28/09

@missinaction: I think they're unavoidable, to be honest. I hate them, but I still watch some of them. That's the issue, I guess, you know? It's obvious that they're terrible and ultimately detrimental to society, and yet it's hard not to watch them, as they're just so ubiquitous. I've said this before but I think it speaks to a need for people to feel socially connected via the lives of strangers (and our ability to comment on said lives) as in reality people are becoming less social on a personal level due to a shift toward social media. Everyone "knows" everyone, so everyone watches everyone, you know?
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MediasBlue
11/28/09

@hortense: I despise reality shows and yet I still read the commentary on Jezebel. I do have the power to ignore those posts, but I don't, so yah, I'm guilty too.

While I agree with missinaction, I also see your point, Hortense. We have a society that is so interconnected and yet so impersonal.
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Diziet_Sma
11/28/09

@hortense: Yeah, you're right about people wanting to connect. I'm such an anti-social cow I often forget about that aspect. Although I guess I get my 'connection' quotient with serial drama (True Blood, Mad Men) and here!
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meritxell: an erotic life
11/28/09

@missinaction: I'm with you on this. I don't watch reality TV and yet it's really hard to avoid when there seems to be incessant coverage of Rock of Love Bus or that John and Kate show here on Jezebel. I scroll past because there's lots of valuable stuff here, but it always boggles my mind that they're deemed worthy of coverage.

Then again there's other pop culture stuff that I like reading about (Mad Men, LOLTwilight) that other people are skipping past, but unless Jon Hamm decides to sneak into a State dinner, there doesn't seem to be enough vitriol to seek punishment for that.

I subscribe to "if you ignore them, they will go away" but that's hard to do by virtue of, you know, being alive.
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Edited by meritxell: an erotic life at 11/28/09 6:26 PM

Tartan_Tart
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
I don't watch reality shows (ok, other than Real Housewives of NY) because I realized that when you take away the manufactured drama and misleading editing, these are pretty darn mundane people. I saw part of The Hills the other day, and it was nothing but a bunch of entitled kids pouting about nothing and complaining about jobs they don't deserve.

It's really quite sad that some people feel the need to crash a white house party (or some other such dramatic and inappropriate action) to make their lives interesting.
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amazoncowgirl
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
This then is what the world, in such short space of time, has been reduced to. Make the pursuit of fame and money the most worthy occupation one can pursue, then take away the distinction between "fame" and "infamy". Leave your dignity a the door and WHAM, BAM, THANK YOU MA'AM, every single thing that one can do to get one's 15 minutes is suddenly acceptable.

I don't even own a television set, and yet, simply by reading Jezebel, I know who fame-whores like Speidi, Michael Lohan and the Gosselins are. I can't claim to be any better than anybody else who, by watching the shows, or making them, or writing the articles or reading them is. At the end of the day, we're all complicit in feeding the monster that is the fame-whore industry.
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heykoukla
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
I used to watch quite a few reality shows, but I'm not currently watching any (it helps that I hardly get to watch TV anymore). I always thought it was just harmless escapism, but now I look back and think "Shit, I used to get worked up over the most stupid things." I'd watch, say My Super Sweet Sixteen and get pissed off at some 16-year-old kid I don't even know. Or I'd watch Wife Swap or Holiday Showdown and get mad at people's ignorance, and get even more pissed off when they didn't get their comeuppance.
And the really pathetic thing is that stuff stays with you (or, it did with me, anyway. Maybe I'm just too sensitive). I reckon I'll do better if I only spend time with arseholes when I'm really, really forced to.
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Acefreakly
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
there's always been a different between fame and infamy - we just seem to have forgotten that, thanks to the rise of reality television and celebrity trash mags.
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Diziet_Sma
11/28/09

@Acefreakly:
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LilSpitfire
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
They will benefit in the short term but it's too early to see what happens to them 20 years from now.

Some reality stars to consider:
1. Puck from Real World
2. Ally Hilfiger from Rich Girls
3. All the Sorority Sisters from Sorority Life

All acted pretty terribly and have since fallen off the map.

And while most get infamy..how many truly become rich off of what they've done? I'd wager very very few. They can talk the talk but rarely do I think they end up walking the walk so-to-speak.

Or to be short..they call it 15 minutes of Fame for a reason.
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Jack_Burton
11/28/09

@LilSpitfire: I have only by chance seen much of the Real World throughout its' run, but I met Puck at a tattoo convention in Tucson in '94. He was drunk, on crutches due to a broken leg - he fell off the map fast and hard. I felt bad for him, because it seemed like he was broke and had no future. And this was just months after the show had aired...
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Diziet_Sma
11/28/09

@LilSpitfire: I don't care what happens to them: I don't take any pleasure in knowing they are fucked up by it and I'm not covetous of either the money or the infamy if they aren't fucked up by it. I just hate the fact that 1) there's no more music on MTV or VH1, and 2) there aren't enough quality dramas, or documentaries on TV because this crap is cheaper and easier to produce.
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BowlingForDollars
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
I agree philosophically with you, Hortense, but as long as there is a public want for people/shows like this, it won't stop.

And someone getting killed doesn't even seem to stop it. Remember the Jenny Jones murder?
[en.wikipedia.org]
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hortense
11/28/09

@BowlingForDollars: I think the real question is: "Why do people want these shows?" Escapism? Mockery? Modern-day freak shows of sorts? Boredom? I have no idea.
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BowlingForDollars
11/28/09

@hortense: Maybe Dr. Phil has an opinion.

:::rimshot::::
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Tartan_Tart
11/28/09

@hortense: There are the people who openly admit they like reality shows and the people who say they watch them for the "trainwreck" factor...but watch them a little too much for that excuse.
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psychokitty
11/28/09

@hortense: I think people want to be reminded that there is someone out there with a more pathetic life than their own. They say they like it because it's "funny" but it's the same kind of "funny" as throwing gum at the nerd kid's hair in junior high.
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LadySoprano is a Fat-Fighting Superwoman
11/28/09

In reply to Is There Any Real Punishment For Terrible Reality Stars?
This is why I don't watch these shows. And I don't buy the magazines with these jerks on the cover.
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