Real World is Becoming Too Real
Erika Rohrssen
Issue date: 3/30/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment
- Page 1 of 2 next >
The latest installment of MTV's, The Real World, which took place in Philadelphia, ended Tuesday March 8 with disappointing results. This being the 15 season of the popular reality television show, many of the antics that occur have become boring and predictable.
Philadelphia seemed to be the perfect location for an installment of this wildly fashionable show whose cast always contains interesting and dynamic people. The city's many historical attractions and fun night life did initially attract viewers to the show, but the routine obstacles the cast was placed in bored the audience, and eventually people began to tune out. Even the cast's job with the Philadelphia Soul, which is co-owned by music legend, Jon Bon Jovi, did not attract an audience.
The show's seven strangers that lived and worked together for months, Landon, Shavonda, MJ, Melanie, Karamo, Willie, and Sarah, did not make the show great like previous casts have. While these seven individuals did experience many new things while on the show, many of the tribulations that occurred were parallel to other, more interesting casts.
Landon's drunken nights, where he frequently cursed his roommates and other houseguests, reminded viewers of The Real World: Hawaii's Ruthie who had her fair share of alcoholic escapades. While Landon's dramatics reached a high point when he placed a kitchen knife in his back pocket one night, fortunately the producers never had to intervene with Landon like they had to with Ruthie a few years ago.
Another situation that was reminiscent of past Real Worlds was the on-again, off-again relationship between Shavonda and Landon. This romance, which heated up on the cast's trip to Fiji, was very similar to many other cast hook-ups on a number of the other seasons of the show. However, their "relationship" became very boring and lost the interest of many viewers after a short amount of time.
Also, a topic that seems to repeat itself among cast members of The Real World is the issue of inter-racial relationships. Karamo's anger over Shavonda's and Landon's romance sparked many debates among the cast members. Karamo did however, changed his mind after realizing he was being hypocritical when he too started dating someone of a different race. These confrontations were similar to Coral's and Mike's debates about race on The Real World: Back to New York.
Philadelphia seemed to be the perfect location for an installment of this wildly fashionable show whose cast always contains interesting and dynamic people. The city's many historical attractions and fun night life did initially attract viewers to the show, but the routine obstacles the cast was placed in bored the audience, and eventually people began to tune out. Even the cast's job with the Philadelphia Soul, which is co-owned by music legend, Jon Bon Jovi, did not attract an audience.
The show's seven strangers that lived and worked together for months, Landon, Shavonda, MJ, Melanie, Karamo, Willie, and Sarah, did not make the show great like previous casts have. While these seven individuals did experience many new things while on the show, many of the tribulations that occurred were parallel to other, more interesting casts.
Landon's drunken nights, where he frequently cursed his roommates and other houseguests, reminded viewers of The Real World: Hawaii's Ruthie who had her fair share of alcoholic escapades. While Landon's dramatics reached a high point when he placed a kitchen knife in his back pocket one night, fortunately the producers never had to intervene with Landon like they had to with Ruthie a few years ago.
Another situation that was reminiscent of past Real Worlds was the on-again, off-again relationship between Shavonda and Landon. This romance, which heated up on the cast's trip to Fiji, was very similar to many other cast hook-ups on a number of the other seasons of the show. However, their "relationship" became very boring and lost the interest of many viewers after a short amount of time.
Also, a topic that seems to repeat itself among cast members of The Real World is the issue of inter-racial relationships. Karamo's anger over Shavonda's and Landon's romance sparked many debates among the cast members. Karamo did however, changed his mind after realizing he was being hypocritical when he too started dating someone of a different race. These confrontations were similar to Coral's and Mike's debates about race on The Real World: Back to New York.