My relationship with reality television has been, at best, strained. I routinely find myself screaming things at the television like, "You can't be serious! How does this person/profession/activity deserve its own show?!?!?" Then my kids start crying and I have to calm down.
But really:
Parking Wars?
Showbiz Moms & Dads?
King of Cars? Was the American public clamoring for these shows? Was John Q. Public really sitting there, seething, thinking, "Dammit, I want fewer shows, and more compelling television about Beverly Hills Matchmakers!" (I suppose I should acknowledge my own weaknesses, like
The Anna Nicole Show, but had I known we'd end up with everybody getting a reality show, I wouldn't have watched.)
Still, my head nearly exploded yesterday when I saw the first preview for Bravo's
NYC Prep. One of the truly bizarre things about these reality shows is how often they focus not on genuinely interesting people but instead pay attention to the machinations of the fabulously wealthy. I'm relatively certain that these people are being put on television at least in part to make the rest of us rise up in an aggressive class war certain to make Lenin smile approvingly. How else can anybody explain a cadre of rich kids who attend New York City prep schools - which are, of course, themselves fantastically expensive to gain access to - then getting a reality television show about their lives.
What sort of "interesting" lives can these kids even live? "Tune in next week as Monica withdraws yet another $10,000 out of an ATM to buy herself a valuable watch that she'll inevitably lose later that night without being troubled by the whole spectacle!" Who wants to watch that?
Meanwhile, I was mowing the lawn yesterday letting my mind wander when it dawned on me that these kids are the children of the titans of industry that have danced all over our economy. And they're getting their own television show to celebrate their excesses. Earlier, I joked about the impending classwar, but the more I think about it, the better it sounds. Which is why I need to warm up the flamethrower...
