For example-- musical theatre. I wish I lived I a world where everyone randomly broke out in song and dance and the perfect interlude punctuated the emotions of the moment. Also, satirical comedy. It is funny because it exaggerates stereotypes and forces people portrayed in those situations-- or the people that have to deal with them-- to laugh at their absurdity. Situational comedy and scripted drama are also useful because they offer an escape into a world where someone else is having a meltdown and you can use those portrayals to gain perspective. I am all for all of those kinds of entertainment.
What I am NOT for, however, are shows that stereotype demographics of which I am a member.
When the first season of The Real Housewives of Orange County first appeared on Bravo, I will admit, I was a fan. Because though it was "unscripted", it was a peek into the lives of over indulged and under developed women in California. I enjoyed watching Vicki, Jo, Lauri and Jeana spend absurd amounts of money on ridiculous things, all the while peppered with a colorful commentary of ridiculously asinine thoughts and musings. I found them to be laughable, and thus, was entertained by how far away from reality they actually lived.
Well, that was almost 5 years ago. And now, in a market where anything that is successful is repackaged and reproduced for every different population segment under the sun, television is inundated with the same kind of ridiculous shit show of women and their over indulged lifestyles.
And now, the very thing I found entertaining about these kinds of shows, has taken a rather insidious turn as the "real life" drama is now being packed for fictional characters. Specifically for a specific kind of woman that lives in Texas.
I have actually read Good Christian Bitches, a novel based upon a series of one woman's experiences living in Highland Park and I actually enjoyed the book. What you see on ABC entitled GCB is very little like the novel it is supposedly based on. The woman's entire point in writing the book was to highlight that in a faith community in which she was attempting to find sanctuary, she found more deceit, betrayal and usurping than you would find in a sorority house. Her character in the book was attempting to start her life over with the best of intentions, and was genuinely disheartened to find that the women she used to consider her best friends were eager to feed her to the wolves.
The book was a fictional case study of life; not Dallas. It was supposed to offer a look into how faith communities can sometimes offer more alienation than solace and that a lot of times, people use God and bible study for an agenda rather than the Truth.
I've only forced myself to sit through one episode of GCB, and I can assure you, that is not the motif they are going for.
And in keeping with the Real Housewives genre, Bravo hasn't moved to take on Dallas as a new locale, but Style did when they started Big Rich Texas.
When I first saw the promotional ads for the show, I had no interest in tuning in. However, lack of other viable options and a waning lack of attention to television programming led me to watch the show a couple of nights ago. I was disgusted. Furthermore, I am even more irate that I have to live with the fact that I share a zip code with all of these individuals.
What these women and their daughters may have in liquid wealth gives no credence to what that indescribably lack in class. Not just because they are all backstabbing, deceitful idiots, but because they try to use an air of "southern charm" to accompany their couture. Combined, they make Teresa Guidice look like bambi. One girl has sex with her godmother's son and can barely pull the sheets up over her breasts long enough for the camera to get a post-coitus angle. One woman- arguably the Queen B with the most money- has a trashier mouth than I do...and for those of you that know me, that's saying something.
And we know all of their dirty secrets, unpaid balances at the plastic surgeon and hidden pregnancies because each and every time they all find themselves at the same social event, they end the evening screaming at each other with unbridled profanity about how trashy the other one is. It is beyond the limits of entertainment; it's a train wreck.
And I guess this is what I don't understand. I am absolutely incensed that people that do not live in Texas have this as an image of Texas women. Furthermore, when shows like GCB pop up and offer a fictional insight into the same southern city, people are only further beguiled by the behavior.
I have lived in Texas my whole life. I have moved around for college and work, but never have I had a zip code that didn't start with a '7'. I have known a lot of women in this state- rich and poor- and none of them behave the way these women do. Not even close. I am offended the popular culture is categorizing women of my geographical location in this way-- and that I will forever now- without my consent- be a party to the same stereotypical behavior.
This is the new Texas generation that once used to get the question, "do you go everywhere on a horse?" I thought the question was absurd, but it makes sense if you compare it to most of the popular images of the residents of Texas.
Well, now I am forever to be counted amongst the trash of Dallas/Fort Worth; I get to fight against the negative perception that have given women in this city and what kills me is that people in this market to not seem to be bothered about how they are being portrayed on television! I feel like I owe the women of Orange Country an apology because back when the drama was 3000 miles away from me, I thought it was funny. Now, not so much.
Sandra Day O'Connor is from Texas. She worked her way up form humble beginnings, lived life on the range, and worked her ass off all the way to the Supreme Court. I would much rather be represented by that "big rich Texas" personality than anything else that has been put up there thus far.
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