Scripted Reality

Disclaimer: I've already touched on some qualms I have with reality TV shows like Love & HipHop in the past...[click here] for some background.

Currently reading the 2nd installment of Lauren Conrad's LA Candy series, and I'm finding it quite insightful. As a reality TV veteran (having watched all walks of life - genre - from age-old MTV classics like 'NewlyWeds' and 'The Osbournes', to terrestrial TV's saviours like 'XFactor', 'Made in Chelsea', 'TOWIE' & 'Big Brother', to my current faves; the black-stereotype spotlight pieces like 'Braxton Family Values', 'Love & HipHop' and 'Basketball Wives'), I am aware that its not quite as 'real' as they would have us believe.

Scarf : **Grandma's | Blazer : Thrifted (Wales) | Shirt : Primark (Menswear) | Skirt : Primark | Braided Shopper Bag : ZARA | Suede Brogues : NewLook

Reading the LA Candy series is eye-opening. Yes, I was always aware that, quite like wrestling (sorry if I killed anyone's naive belief that WWE wasn't staged), the TV Networks deliberately set-up scenarios for these 'real' individuals to then 'act normal'. Aside from the extent to which producers would go to orchestrate drama for ratings, what I found disturbing, was the level to which these said individuals were willing to stoop for more airtime. Its sick to think they are willing to play obedient lil' puppets for our entertainment.

Head Candy : Primark | Rings : eBay & DorothyPerkins | Necklace : DorothyPerkins

I mean, I can't quite wrap my head around someone as old as my Aunty slurring about loyalty, throwing drinks across the dinner table at her 'friends' or even GOING to a club, talk less of causing a raucous there. Its unreal (pun intended). Needless to say (although her style of writing is a tad lacklustre, and her diction rather basic – buy a thesaurus Lauren Conrad, or right-click on Synonyms in Microsoft Word) Lauren Conrad had me sucked in and blown away from the get-go...ok, I lie, from about 75 pages in LOL.

(Boxing Day Outing with the siblings)

LA Candy touches on the ins & outs of the life of a reality TV star. I mean, it's a great avenue to showcase [non]talents, but at the same time, it opens the floodgates for shame, immaturity and basic life. The protagonist struggles to understand WHY the public are so interested in a regular girl, and perhaps its because of the level to which we can relate to her, or other reality TV stars. The age of pedestalising celebrities has long passed, with all those 'Fabulous Life' MTV shows seeing better days. Now, I think the public are more concerned with how others live their day-to-day lives, except, the big TV dons won't show us that. Instead, they buy out villas, rent tables at the top bars and and splurge thousands on flashing a faux-flambouyant lifestyle, in a bid to woo us to covet. 

Onyxsta says...BLEURGH!! Just like a script, in reality tv, what goes up shall surely come down. Xisses