VH1’s “The Surreal Life,” gives
viewers a “real look” into the life of celebrities. Producers pick and choose celebrities and
have them live together as a “family” for a short while, and films their
interactions and hardships, with some friendly competition thrown into the
mix. In Season 6 of the show, Sherman
Hemsley, C.C. Deville, Tawny Kitaen, Steve Harwell, Andrea Lowell, Maven,
Alexis Arquette, and Florence Henderson were all chosen to participate. Season 6’s celebrities all represent some form
of a stereotype, and their lifestyles, hardships, and celebrations are all
exploited for the purpose of entertaining television.
As mentioned, each member of the
cast represents some form of stereotype.
Sherman Hemsley represents the passive, non-confrontational, African
American that society deems is acceptable (he doesn’t fight inequalities, he
just accepts them). C.C. Deville represents
the recovering addict/alcoholic 80’s rocker who has overcome his circumstances
(underdog). Tawny Kitaen is clearly the “crazy
bitch” of the household, who causes drama whenever possible. Steve Harwell is the lead singer of “Smash
Mouth,” and the most recent successful rocker of the season. Andrea Lowell is the Playboy Bunny,
hypersexualized woman. Maven represents
the “jock” with a drug and alcohol problem.
Alexis Arquette is the “Tranny” freak of the house. Finally, Florence Henderson is the motherly
figure that watches over them all.
In the episode, “Flo’s Final Word,”
Florence Henderson offers each of the cast members advice (encouraged by the
producers) as if she were their therapist.
She tells Alexis that she is an incredible human being, but will always
have to deal with the fact that people find her intimidating. After this, she shows a video montage of
Alexis causing a scene in multiple episodes.
One in particular deals with Alexis being harassed in public because she
is a transsexual. She gets extremely
upset and begins calling the harassers out.
This scene reminds me of the quote in Clarkson’s article “The
Limitations of the Discourse of Norms,” when he quotes a member of
Straightacting.com. “I see more and more
of our rights taken away, and more hate crimes, because the flamboyant elements
of the gay movement have remained in power…(Clarkson 337).” While Alexis is not a gay man, her gendered
expression is evident and she is targeted for this. By bringing this scene up, it seems to
suggest that Flo believes she somewhat brings this on herself because her
identity is so evident, and people find anything that strays from the norm as
threatening. Since she was born male,
and identifies as female, she is seen as a spectacle in the eyes of society.
Flo’s advice to Andrea seems to be
the most negative of them all and it causes the viewer to question if Flo is
actually judging Andrea for being so sexual.
Flo tells Andrea that she believes she is building a prison of
pornography around herself and also that she hopes Andrea aspires to be
something more than what she is now.
Andrea makes a comment that her aspiration was to be in Playboy and she
is extremely hurt by what Flo had said.
Flo seems to believe that Andrea’s line of work is degrading, while
Andrea finds it very empowering and she clearly loves what she does.
The Surreal Life does an excellent
job of portraying celebrities as someone the viewers can relate to. Even though, it is clear that the celebrities
are coaxed to do certain things by the producers, clearly evident in their
competitions. Karen Boyle said, “Part of the appeal of the series might well be
that the women’s lifestyle is made to seem accessible (Boyle 298).” While she was talking about the series “Girls
Next Door,” this quote can easily be applied to “The Surreal Life,” especially
with Andrea Lowell. She is portrayed as
a normal girl who just happens to work in the porn industry.
Boyle, Karen. “That’s
so Fun.” Gender, Race and Class in Media.
Ed. Gail Dines and Ed. Jean M. Humez. 3. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2011.
293-300. Print.
Clarkson, Jay. "The Limitations of
the Discourse of Norms."Gender, Race and Class in Media. Ed. Gail Dines and Ed. Jean M. Humez. 3. Los
Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2011. 335-340. Print.
Florence Henderson, who was Carol Brady on the hit series, The Brady Bunch, was asked to give advice to the cast members. Not only is she of a completely different generation than the main two people she criticized (Alexis and Andrea), but she was encouraged to do so by the producers. To me that is asking for complete hegemonic advice that will be given, and that is just what happened. By Flo showing Alexis the clip of her "causing a scene," it is as if Flo is almost trying to tell Alexis not to stand up for herself, because she is in fact "causing a scene." It seems to me like she is telling her to just stay invisible and not stick up for herself. Your reference to "Girls Next Door" was perfect because it is part of the new pornification of culture. Flo seems to be extremely judgmental, and does not look at Playboy as more than just porn. Flo only finds it degrading, but Andrea finds it to be very empowering and because Flo knows that Andrea thinks this way, it was very close-minded of her to say such a thing to her. Flo seems to have been conformed to social norms a long time ago, because she is quite elderly. It is almost as simple as that. The times have changed with each generation, and fortunately, within every generation, the culture has become more and more liberal.
ReplyDeleteFlo’s advice to Andrea seems to be the most negative of them all and it causes the viewer to question if Flo is actually judging Andrea for being so sexual. Flo tells Andrea that she believes she is building a prison of pornography around herself and also that she hopes Andrea aspires to be something more than what she is now. Andrea makes a comment that her aspiration was to be in Playboy and she is extremely hurt by what Flo had said. Flo seems to believe that Andrea’s line of work is degrading, while Andrea finds it very empowering and she clearly loves what she does.