Fast forward 20+ years and the indie films are gone, to be replaced by a plethora of reality shows. (This was also when the channel was purchased by a major network, NBC. Do with that what you will.)
I never really paid much attention to Bravo, to be honest with you. I didn't fall into the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy craze. I don't watch Project Runway (which is on Lifetime now anyway) and the real estate shows with the 20-something douchey agents just bother me. And as much as I like to consider myself a "foodie" I never got into Top Chef either.
But one day, a few years ago, I was home on a Saturday afternoon when I watched something that I couldn't tear myself away from. They were showing a marathon of the first season of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the newest in the franchise at the time. I was hooked from the Kyle's first "I never said that, Camille!" Who were these women? These wonderfully crazy, completely ridiculous, high-culture-low-scruples women? I had to know more about them. I had to know what Kyle didn't say! So I watched and watched. It is a total train wreck. It is guilty voyeurism at its finest. I quickly developed attachments to the women. I had favorites, I took sides.
The show's fourth season just started a couple weeks ago. There is something about this season that seems different from the others. My guess is it has finally settled in with these women that they are being watched for drama and they feed into it. Sometimes you can get a fresh take on everything when they introduce a new cast member, like when they introduced Yolanda Foster last season (however this is not true with Brandi Glanville, who upped the crazy ante and negated Yolanda's groundedness). This season though, even the newest cast member, Carlton Gebbia, who seems to want nothing to do with any of the high school drama Kyle likes to stir up, still manages to conjure up her own issues with the girls. I used conjure on purpose because she is a witch, but no she's actually Wiccan, but don't ask her about it directly because apparently that's rude. She wants people to get to know her, but not ask her questions about herself. But it was perfectly fine for Brandi to call her a C*** because haha, that's just Brandi! Joyce Giraud de Ohoven, the other newbie this season, already pointed out that inconsistency in Carlton. She's going to fit right into the madness because she seems to have hitched her wagon to Kyle's star already. She seems to say whatever the person she's talking to needs her to say. There's going to be a lot of she said/she said this season.
Last night I was watching this show while snuggling with my daughter. Granted she's only 5 months old and has no idea what is going on, but it did cause me to pause and think for a moment. Would I watch this with her when she is old enough to understand? Is this how I want her to view relationships with other women? I hope and pray that she finds a solid group of girls to be friends with growing up and I hope she always has that. I hope she chooses to surround herself by strong, kind women who support each other. It shouldn't be hard to be a woman in this world, but I think we make it that way for ourselves.
I think there's a lot that can be learned from the way these women interact with each other and how they present themselves. I suppose it would be learning by watching what not to do.
Someday I may have to explain the behaviors of some of these women and other like them to my little girl as she will witness it somewhere (even if not on this show), but for now, I'll continue to secretly hate-to-love you, RHOB and all your self-created drama and total silliness.
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