Hooked on Revenge

I saw the adverts. I saw the teaser trailers and, truthfully, I wasn't all that impressed. I'm all for cheesy American sitcoms, as you all know, but Revenge seemed to push the boat too far this time. It's grotesquely cliché, but will we ever get bored of US dramas focusing on the rich elite? Probably not.

So to my surprise I somehow ended up spending Father's day night watching 3 episodes simultaneously. That's 120 minutes worth of viewing time. Happy Father's day, dad. He loved it though, truth be told we all did. The best part? Finding out it airs every Monday night. I'm anticipating this week's episode tonight, and at least I now have something to make up for the Monday evening gap Made In Chelsea has created.

Revenge as the title suggests, focuses on, er, revenge. Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp), centre of the above picture, arrives at The Hamptons with an agenda to destroy the lives of a rich family that ruined her father. 

The series looks like it's set to get really interesting, it's a hit in America if that's anything to go by. Granted the pilot episode has a lot to inform the viewer of, so it was never going to be smoothest of first episodes. I think the worst part was just how fake The Hamptons looked. And to an extent, the acting too. Did they film it all in a studio and photoshop in the surroundings? I'll be frank with you, after three episodes, I still don't know the answer to that one.

I'm not going to lie to you and tell you it's the best show you'll ever watch, but if you've ever watched the likes of Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girl, 90210 and so on, then I think you might just fall in love with this far fetched little drama series. 

When I grow up I want to be a... rinser.

Tonight I watched Sex, Lies and Rinsing Guys on Channel 4. The name itself intrigued me so I gave it a watch. I have to say though, having watched it I am somewhat ashamed that females like this exist. I thought it only happened in films like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Priceless. I wouldn’t say I’m a hardcore feminist, but I definitely support feminism to the extent of females being equal to men, thus it takes a lot to make me say a statement like that. Before I continue let me iterate that it’s a fascinating watch nonetheless.

The show effectively followed “mutual relationships” in which glamorous girls use their charm, looks and overall beauty to receive gifts and allowances from men. It’s called rinsing. It’s shameful. But, before you judge, it’s OKAY because they have a strict rule of no sex. Round of applause for them. By all means let’s forget the work the suffragettes accomplished to get women the right to vote, and all the campaigns women have fought to become respected in the workplace and even in life itself.

And then you come across the women in this documentary. Granted they make an effort with their looks, you can’t argue with that. And I believe women and men alike should do this. But the sole purpose of their appearance is to “rinse” rich and successful men. Now some might argue that the men are blind fools for providing them with the opportunities, and I would agree with you – to an extent. But it’s the fact that the women prey on men with full intentions of getting whatever they can from them that does it for me. They prey on loneliness. My heart sunk on hearing one woman’s reasoning being “What’s the point in scrimping and saving all your life when some muppet down the road is going to give you a grand a month to live off?” I lost my rag at this point, it’s like the kind of reasoning a benefit thief would utilise against the hard working taxpayers. The point? Are you serious? The point is to achieve something in life. What happened to career ambitions? Why would you want to achieve nothing other than a wardrobe full of material gifts? They are living a glamorous life off of the back of someone else. These women are setting the worst type of example to young girls, more so because a few of them had children who were being brought up surrounded by this culture.

Having watched this documentary it only reinforces my desire to work hard to go against this growing breed of rinsers. I want to have made something of my life which I can look back on and be fully proud of what I will have achieved as an independent and hardworking female.

It's Made in Chelsea, not Real in Chelsea

In 1992, reality TV was a novelty. In 2000, it was a fad. In 2010, it's a way of life. What better way to describe reality TV then with Time Magazine’s perfectly worded summary. Welcome to 2012. We are a nation, a world even, consumed with reality TV. From The X Factor to The Only Way is Essex to one of our most recent additions, Made in Chelsea, reality TV has become as commonplace on our TV screens as the news every evening at 6pm sharp. This genre is so fascinating because it has changed the way viewers relate to and interact with the cast of the shows. Yet at the same time this interaction is becomingly dangerously one-sided, with – guess who – the viewers. So what is it about reality TV that has the power to drag us back to the screens even though we may not even like the show itself? Well for starters we humans are natural voyeurs; we are so very curious about these characters and every little detail about their lives. And it’s only become easier to ‘stalk’ the cast with the use of Twitter and other social networking sites. Let’s not be irrational here though, it’s fine to follow them and to talk to them because that’s what they want you to do – to follow, engage and become loyal to their brands. The issue arises when, for example, after Monday’s (07/05) episode of MIC fans loyal to Jamie Laing took to Twitter in their masses to send messages of hate and even death threats to Louise thompson and Spencer Matthews. These problematic and unhealthy relationships on the side of the fans develop primarily due to reality TV having blurred the lines between reality and fiction so deeply. Whilst being hilariously entertaining, these shows distort fact and fiction. If you hadn’t already have guessed it, all forms of reality TV are in fact heavily scripted. Have you ever considered how boring it would be if someone filmed you and your everyday life? These people don’t just consistently ‘randomly’ bump into each other on the streets with a camera by their side; they are set up in such a way to put characters together in uncomfortable situations. But boy does it make for addictive viewing. The point I hope I’ve got at here is that next time you watch these programmes and see X kissing Z when she was supposed to be with Y, just remember – she’s probably with F in real life who has nothing to do with that show. Casts of reality TV shows are real people, they are however effectively actors in the shows.