This article from yesterday’s NY Times was so relevant to my life! I love love love Real Housewives of NYC, and I’m SO excited for the NJ version to air. But I always have to defend myself to Matt because he thinks it’s trash TV. I insist there’s more to it than that. The show isn’t worshipping these women, and I don’t watch it because I want to be like them. I watch it because: a) It’s entertaining, and b) It’s interesting social commentary on a particular group of people.
And I think that, coming from this area, you can see little bits of people you know in the characters: relatives, relatives of boyfriends, people from high school.
Also, Simon and Alex are living in another universe. I will NEVER get over the fact that their kids’ names are Francois and JOHAN! They live in BROOKLYN.
From the article:
“Everyone likes to judge,” said Jennifer O’Connell, executive vice president of Shed Media US, which produces the New York show. And Bravo makes that easy. Unlike most other reality shows, this one about “housewives” is not filmed on a set but during the women’s actual lives. And the episodes rely on cutaway shots showing the reactions of the real-real people in the women’s lives: the cringe of a child, the frown of a disapproving sales clerk, the sigh of an overworked nanny. The subjects may be rich, the shows suggest, but their lives aren’t necessarily desirable. And that may be the most recession-conscious message of all.
Andy Cohen, senior vice president for original programming and development at Bravo, described those reaction shots as “winks” to the audience. “I know more really, really smart people who watch these shows who are like, ‘I’m embarrassed to admit it,’ ” he said. “That wink is also something that allows a lot of people to feel like it’s O.K. to watch these women.”
