I guess now would probably be the best time to inform you that I have never watched "The Real World" previous to this season. Sure, I may have flipped to it occasionally as a curious hormone-driven teenager, hoping that I would get to see a blurred boob or two, but I have never watched as much as two episodes sequentially until last night. After doing some research on the history of the show, I have outlined some arguments that contest the "real-ness" of the world surrounding the cast.
The House
If you've seen the show before, you know that there is little more that really needs to be said on this subject. The house that the cast lives in is humongous, outrageously furnished from top to bottom, and conveniently located in one of the priciest areas of the city: Dupont Circle. Honestly, their "confessional" room looks like it is as big as my bedroom. Now, I understand that the house needs to fit the 8 cast members, plus crew equipment and whatnot, but I know for a fact that there are group houses in other areas of the city that could not only accommodate the needs of the cast and crew, but also provide a more realistic living setting. How do I know this? Because I only recently ended a two-month tour of these types of living quarters in my own housing search.
Now, I'm not necessarily saying that you have to put the cast in harm's way in an area like Petworth or Trinidad, but at least surround the cast with the local flavor of D.C, and not just the wealthy elite. Put them up in Columbia Heights, or the Atlas District, or even Adams Morgan. All three of these environments would provide a more realistic D.C experience than that provided within the Dupont bubble.
Fiscal Responsibility and Sense of Capitalism
Basically, there is none. As of yet, the D.C cast has yet to be introduced to the the jobs that they will work at while living in the house. In past seasons of "The Real World," the cast has had to maintain employment with companies that the producers of the show have worked have worked out agreements with in order to stay in the house. However, while maintaining that job seems to be a condition of staying in the house, that seems to be the only purpose for employment. There is no evidence that the cast members receive paychecks, pay any kind of rent or utility bills, or even spend their own money on food or drinks. How "real" is a world where an unskilled labor job lands you a huge house in the nice part of town and an endless bankroll to spend on drinks for you and your friends?
Sense of Time and Context
Again, there is very little of either of these present in MTV's "real" world. We can gather that the D.C season takes place in the Summer of 2009, and this can be confirmed by not digging too deep into social media outlets, but this is the extent of what can be gathered. There aren't any other clues as to what is going on outside of the Real World house that might indirectly be affecting the lives of the cast, and that is just not realistic. The cast doesn't have a T.V, I have yet to see any laptops or computers, and I also don't see any newspapers lying around. To me, it is this fact that places the cast of the show furthest out of what you and I might call "the real world." If the show were taking place today, I would want to know how the cast feels about the attempted Christmas Day terror attack, whether they still feel safe flying. I would want to know their thoughts on the health care legislation being pushed through the houses of Congress and the decision to forgo the conference committee process. Hell, it doesn't even have to be about politics, it would be fun just to know who they thought would win the BCS Championship game. Give the cast members a source to develop and mold real opinions around real issues in real time.
The Cast and the 4th Law
Needless, to say, the cast of "The Real World D.C" is a collection of genetically superior super-beings. The boys basically fit the model of every boy band birthed in the 1990's. We've got the funny one, the douchebag one, the cute one (who just happens to be gay,) and the tough one (who just happens to be black.) Each of the girls on the show could have their own respective modeling contracts, and perhaps they do, now that filming has ended. I'm not saying that the color and creed of the house-mates has to accurately represent national demographics, but come on, the show needs at least one overweight person. This is America after all. Another minority couldn't hurt either, maybe someone of Hispanic or Middle-Eastern descent. Let's get real.
Finally, the issue of the Fourth Law. I understand that there are certain rules that the cast has to follow regarding the camera, and that they are allowed to talk directly to it in the "confessional" room, but I think the presence of large camera equipment with the cast in public places is making their world less real. This fact is only amplified now that the power of social media can help keep tabs of the cast's location at all times. Everyone acts differently when they are in front of the camera, but my concern is not with the cast, but with the public that surrounds the cast. Everyone wants to be on T.V, and some people are willing to do things that they might normally not do in order to achieve that goal, like flirt and even sleep with one of the cast members. Not that the super-hotties need any help, but the allure of reality stardom takes people out of their element. The producers of the show are going to have to learn to adapt to the presence of social media in order to keep any integrity that this show might have intact.
