Are you, or is someone you know, a fan of one of the Real Housewives shows? If so, can you explain the show’s appeal in personal terms?
Week 12 Day 2 Discussion Question 2
May 2, 2016 | 5 Comments
Class, Culture, Representation
May 2, 2016 | 5 Comments
Are you, or is someone you know, a fan of one of the Real Housewives shows? If so, can you explain the show’s appeal in personal terms?
April 17, 2019 at 1:08 pm
The basketball team regularly gets together for movie, tv, or game nights. Among our tv fixes are American Idol, The Bachelor Franchise, Grey’s Anatomy, and World of Dance but never The Real Housewives franchise. For many of us, we don’t see the appeal or purpose of the television show as an entertainment source. The storyline of over the top events and conflicts does not However, there are a few teammates that frequently tune in to a few of the spinoffs of the RHW franchise.
When trying to gauge their personal reasons for following the show, the main appeal seemed to be a sense of escape from the reality of everyday life. Of the two friends I asked, neither personally related to the lifestyles or socioeconomic status of the characters presented, however neither identified as coming from a working class lifestyle either. Instead, they aspired to lead similar lives that allowed them to experience many of the things that the housewives could. The appeal came in the way of seeing how different their lives were due to the fact that they had exorbitant amounts of money. This defining factor is what allowed them to create such an intriguing storyline because it is so different than what many Americans experience in their daily lives.
In this way, my friends’ experiences are correlated to what Lee and Moscowitz assert in their chapter “The Rich Bitch”. The authors describe the real housewives as “the poster girls for conspicuous consumption while Americans are losing their jobs in record numbers.” (1) This consumption is highly gendered and is also what pulls these women away from their friendships, duties of motherhood and ultimately productivity as a worker. In many ways, they represent the failures and ironies of an economic system that allows these women to engage in the activities featured in the show with little consequences and while appealing to a vast audience.
April 17, 2019 at 12:54 pm
Though I rarely watch Real Housewives, I know people who do, and I have seen a few episodes myself. I think that people are drawn to this show because of its absurdity and peculiar behavior by the housewives. Their behavior is comedic because they are supposed to be elite figures exemplifying the upper class but their behavior contradicts our image of poised, elite people. They almost act as children, unable to control their actions in public, causing scenes and having fits. Every episode is filled with drama and arguing among the cast, and looks extremely realistic which I think people enjoy watching. As Lee and Moscowitz state, “…the show uses outlandish behavior to mark these characters’ difference, and deviance, from an audience’s most basic aspirations of tactful consumption and social grace”. There is a fascination with these women who have access to the top events, product, and people in America, and yet they act like uneducated and unmannered people who do not know better, but should. I think people enjoy watching this because of the feelings it conjures for them- envy, disgust, humor, entertainment, etc.
Another reason I think people enjoy this is because of the way Bravo produces this show, which Lee and Moscowitz speak about in their piece, “In the end, these women are a far cry from hegemonic conceptions of motherhood perpetuated by popular media forms. The show is entertaining precisely because they fail to meet these standards”. The assurance that, just because these women have an abundance of wealth, they are not icons of how to live, is nice for people to see and makes one feel better about their own situations. Just because these women are supposed to be the faces of the most elite social class, does not mean their actions are justified.
April 17, 2019 at 12:15 pm
I personally have not watched this show but I do have friends who love this show and
I have watched somewhat similar shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians which has the same plot of following rich people around for entertainment. After watching the preview episode and reading Lee and Moscowitz, there are a few reasons as to why it seems people love watching this show. First, it is an inside look on the luxurious life of rich people. It allows the viewers to get a taste of what it is like to live in a big fancy house and have expensive clothes, vacations and other elegant things that most people do not get to get experience. Secondly, I think it is quite clear that the drama is definitely what makes this show compelling to watch. From the different relationships to the big turning events and everything in between, there is constant drama that leads from episode to episode and season to season that gets you hooked on the rollercoaster ride and maybe even gets you to start rooting for or against someone. Each housewife has a large and different personality and with all of them interacting together it leads to interesting conversations and conflict that makes you want to know what will happen next. These all lead to scandals and different things that you never thought you’d see on tv. I think this leads into another point that everything these housewives do is so absurd to a certain point that it is so entertaining and you want to see what other ridiculous things they are going to say or do. I can attest to this when I have seen multiple episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, I start to like or dislike a certain sister or family member and then I am just hooked on what drama will happen next and what unnecessary problems these people encounter when they have the world at their hands with all of the money they have.
April 16, 2019 at 9:37 pm
One of my best friends, who recently graduated, obsessed over the Real Housewives of New York City and constantly tried to get me to watch. While I don’t see the appeal of shows like Real Housewives or Keeping Up with the Kardashians, clearly many people do. So, with some qualms, I watched a couple of episodes with him. I felt validated as I got nothing out of the show, but I at least see some of the appeal.
I’ve spoken about this a bit before, but television can serve as a means of escape from the monotony of everyday life, mirror realities of society, or meaningfully mix these two strategies in a way that still allows for reflection on the human condition. Real Housewives slides into the first category, providing viewers the chance to forget about our outstanding bills and America’s news cycle of divisive political rhetoric. We can glimpse into the privileged, distorted world of the ultra-wealthy. Problems move from budgeting for groceries to petty squabbles about who had sex with who. Juicy gossip dramatized for a television audience craving the stuff will obviously succeed.
The only legitimate appeal to me could have been the politics and drama of these housewives trying to gain social standing and power. Hierarchy shifts, carefully thought out decisions, tangled relationships with broader implications – you’d think I was describing Game of Thrones., but Housewives certainly pumps these elements into the dramatic narrative hanging over its glimpse into the life of the wealthy. My problem lies with the placement of these elements. As a show that purports itself as a reality TV show, the drama is laughable. I much prefer a show that embraces its narrative for what it truly is – a fictional story – like … Game of Thrones. This form retains credibility, allowing me to buy in, and can still bring to light meaningful insights about the human condition. So, while I see the appeal, I will not watch any more Real Housewives.
April 16, 2019 at 3:15 pm
Investigating the roots of the intense interest that exists in shows like the Real Housewives unveils a wealth of interesting findings. In the article by Lee and Moscowitz (2012), the appeal of this show is predominantly grounded in the allure of irony. Lee and Moscowitz (2012) describe irony as the violation of an engrained, widespread assumption. The Real Housewives exploit the entertainment value of this type of irony by providing comic relief in the form of contradictions. For example, they make use of something called the “Bravo wink,” a wink at the audience when the actions of a character evidently contradict their statements/beliefs, permitting us as viewers to be a part of the comic relief. The housewives perform contradictions through violating expected norms, like those of wealth and femininity and the expectation of elegance, emotional repression, and more. They also violate the normative expectation for a “housewife” to be a productive motherly figure by, instead, exhibiting objectively negative mothering skills and, also, primary interest in social status over employment.
The primary entertainment value that comes from this, then, is the permission granted to viewers to become the “judges,” being able to attribute the show’s actions with comedy and using the characters as “scapegoats for economic crises, figures of scorn and pity, morality tales of lives led wastefully” (Lee & Moscowitz, 2012, p. 153). When I asked my friend, an avidly passionate fan of the Real Housewives, why she found the show so appealing, she matched with some of these ideas.
According to her, “[The show displays] everyday life, something relatable, but in more lavish and theatrical terms.” “[The show also provides] comfort in following a consistent cast over the years” and “represents a lifestyle/activity everyone wants with the least desirable people/attitudes [which provides significant] comedic relief.” Within her quick explanation of her interest, she expresses the appeal of contradictions, such as in her description of the show representing a desirable lifestyle with the least desirable people. She made it more apparent how a significant source of the show’s entertainment value falls within the viewer’s “judgmental permission,” along with associated comic relief. I am going to watch this show now to investigate my own primary draw to its representations!