No guilt in pleasure

One of my semi-secret semi-guilty completely amazing pleasures is trashy tv. But not just any trashy tv show, no no, I have standards. These standards are low, I admit, but they do exist. I may scrape the bottom of the barrel, but my barrel is still above scraping the bottom of the well.

As such, I confess that now, while in the midst of the summer/fall transition, I am almost too excited to think. However, I am more than capable to reflect and reveal this vice, and then when everyone realizes how RIGHT and how exciting this is, we can get together to talk about it. Much like a book club minus all the pretentiousness.

VH1 and MTV are amazing. Like manna from heaven. Like an extra peanut in the shell. Like cuteoverload.com or gofugyourself. The possibilities are endless! The less than classy dating shows, especially the spawn of spurned suitors and pissed off paramours, offer a variety of entertainment options:

1) the spectacle. Give the people what they want, and the people (me) want to see conflict, smacktalk and ESPECIALLY scandal. This could be because this is all thankfully lacking from my life, so it is a legitimate escape to see what I don't have and to live vicariously through more interesting, although less desireable, scenarios.

2) the superiority/at least that's not me. Granted, this is related to the spectacle, but on a more individualized level. It is easily understood that I am more than pleased to not be making a fool of myself on national tv (viewer number unknown) or looking uggo. So, while I may not be gorgeous or brilliant, at least I am doing better than these fools! Plus, no one but the people around me can fall victim to my short-of gorgeous or genius moments. Furthermore, this is FUNNY. Where else could I hear such gems as "this is Daisy of love not Daisy of kill" or "your credit has been declined" or "will you continue to rock my world?". Classy.

3) predictability/lack thereof. This is a tricky category. On the one hand, everyone knows that the producers play a certain role in the selection/elimination process: if they are stirring up drama, they are staying. But if they stir up too much drama and are instigating violence, they leave. (Look how much they appreciate my anti-violence/pacificism! Violence does not fly, even trashy reality shows are hip to that! An actual point for legitimacy, but that's all they need, we aren't expecting the next Friends or anything.) Being sexy is a plus, being slutty or manwhore-y is treading dangerous ground. You can't become too friendly with your competitors, but if you isolate yourself you have no allies. This genre makes dating strategic. It's brilliant if you can get past the superficiality of the whole thing. Unfortunately, the final episodes are always NOT what I would do. I feel like this is because I usually judge people well, and theses people do not. This goes back to the superiority thing and how I feel like I should be a consultant. Not only would the world be better off, but their summer relationships might make it to the fall!

So there you have it. After I have graduated, these have been the most intellectual paragraphs I have written (not counting editing essays), and I have made it an homage to trashy reality dating shows. Oh well, at least my degree(s) grant(s) me a little credibility.

Next up, summer adventures: continued!
Keep it osom, classy, and off-camera.