Real World Denver

Real World: Coal Mining Town

 

Real World: Ashland, KY

 

I was going to go with Grundy, VA, but yours works too.

 

Real World: East St. Louis

 

Good call on Grundy, Meat. Big Stone Gap would work, too.

 

Either that or they just ought to go whole hog and pick seven bisexual porn stars and put out bowls of Viagra, cocaine and condoms.....

 

Real World: Taunton, Mass.

And they all have to work at the newspaper.

 

Is that a JRC rag? Would Jelenic be prominently involved? If so, then greenlight that motherfucker yesterday.

 

Real World: South Central. Have them work the graveyard shift at the local 7-11.

That would be fucking awesome.

 

There would be one word for that footage:

Evidence.

 

Pardon my rant, but...

I find it hilarious how people act like Pedro's death in the San Francisco season represents the ideological turning point for MTV, the death (or loss) of my generation's innocence, and the jump-the-shark moment for a franchise that once had noble aspirations but is now all about young people exploiting themselves to get famous. Bull-shit. Chuck Klosterman has his flaws (and you can read a discussion of them on the journalism board) but in Sex, Drugs and Coco Puffs, he absolutely nailed Pedro's character in his essay about the Real World. Pedro was a bigger whore than pretty much anyone in the history of this series. He used the Real World to make himself into a Christ-like martyr, and tried to act like he was above all the attention whoring that Puck was obsessed with. Please. The difference between the kids today and Pedro then is just in their intentions. The kids now want to fuck in the hot tub and get drunk and be famous. Pedro wanted to personalize the AIDS epidemic and, though his goals may have been noble, also make himself famous in the process. I'm not comfortable with pretending like one act is more shameless than the other.

The idea too that the show has totally changed, and that all MTV does is pick crazy sluts who will fight and fuck on camera ignores the fact that culture has changed significantly too. Think about it: The first Real World was 15 years ago. How much have kids changed in 15 years? We didn't even have the Internet 15 years ago, and we certainly had never thought about the president getting his dick sucked while he was on a conference call. The Real World is just a mirror to our culture. The link I posted last week that showed college girls stripping and make out with one another is just more evidence of that. Did skankiness on the Real World contribute to skankiness in our culture? That's a pretty bold claim to make about a music channel reality show. It's not like Paris Hilton wouldn't be famous for nothing if people on MTV hadn't become famous for nothing as members of the Real World. The show is soulless, but it also illuminates our culture's mindless, stupid, narcissistic obsession with ourselves. What is myspace, really, but an attention grab on a smaller scale? Look at me! These are the things I like! These are pictures of me! Message me and put me in your top 8 friends!

Lastly, the idea that if you no longer watch the Real World it means you're a grown-up is both condescending and naive. I don't watch the show anymore -- I think I quit somewhere around Paris or Philly -- but there is no shame in watching (and mocking) phony, contrived emotional moments for pure entertainment's sake, as long as you understand they're phony and contrived. It's sort of like watching professional wrestling. The only people who think the audience isn't in on the joke are the people who don't watch. They pat themselves on the back and congratulate themselves for "getting it," then tsk-tsk those they assume do not. Anyone over the age of 16 watching the Real World understands that it's a phony joke. And they watch it anyway. Some people watch LOST, a show where cancer gets cured by magic, black smoke can body slam you in anger, Desmond can predict the future, birds talk to Hurley, and a hobbit plays in a rock band.

Remind me again, which audience is dealing with arrested development?

 

And just to be clear, Mallory gets my vote for the hottest Real World babe ever. Former Iowa State soccer player, now a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model.

Gorgeous eyes, among other obvious attributes.