Mini-Profect #1 -Francesca Galarus

For this project, I decided to pick on my roommate Abby again as well as two of our friends that we were hanging out with this passed weekend – Jill and Tara. Abby, as we already know, is celebrity-obsessed. Jill is outgoing and keeps up on pop-culture. Tara is a shier and quieter than the rest of us.

I brought up the topic of reality television over drinks and was initially met with disgust. “It’s getting out of control,” Jill said, “I’d rather watch Lost.” “Yeah, most of those shows are ridiculous,” Tara contributed. “Well…I like celebreality,” Abby admitted. She went on to explain that she got into VH1’s Celebreality when “Flava of Love” began and even dressed up like Flava Flav for Halloween last year. Abby liked one of the girls from that show so much that she started watching “I Love New York,” a spin-off. Her main reason for enjoying this program so much was because it’s “so outrageous that it’s impossible to take seriously, so you just laugh.”

After this, Jill said that she had seen a couple “Flava of Love” episodes and more than a couple “I Love New York” episodes, but they weren’t shows that she regularly tunes into. Tara said that the only time she’s watched these were with Abby, but she thought the whole celebreality thing was bizarre. When I asked her if she’s ever watched any other reality television, she said that she watched the first season of “Survivor” before the whole phenomenon was out of control and some “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” game shows with her parents. Jill said that she watches occasionally “Iron Chef,” because she wants to go into the hospitality industry and she’s interested in food.

Despite their differences in opinion on this topic, there was one thing that all three of my friends agreed on. Jill, Tara and Abby would never appear on a reality television series. Their reasoning for this was mostly based on fear of being misrepresented and also having your life broadcasted for people like your parents, professors and future employers to see. Tara also added: “It’s not even like you have to do anything special to be on one of these shows. There’s no talent required. You basically just have to have a confrontational personality and look semi-attractive on camera.” True for the most part, Abby and Jill agreed, except for maybe shows like “Project Runway.” Abby said that if she had the ability to design clothes, she would consider going on that show. “And possibly ‘Real World’ circa 1998.”