At 20, MTV's 'Real World' acting like a spoiled brat
By Nathan Mattise
Posted: 2/18/08, 10:33 PM EST Section: Feature
Don't ask why, but I carry a 1995 Little League trading card in my wallet. Every so often I take it out, and I'm amazed at how much I've changed. At age 10, I was a 4'9," 82-pound boiling Crockpot of masculinity. Now at 22, I'm too self-conscious to share vital stats.
I felt similar growing pains last week when I came home to my roommate plowing through another episode of "The Gauntlet III." The last "Real World" cast I really followed was Hawaii, which is like comparing apples with…really, really terrible sour apples. For example, Irene from the Seattle cast was a real person who showed me that adults fight, and that disease can be really rough on an individual. CT on "The Gauntlet III" is a surreal idiot who shows me how to define the term "bro," "bra" or "brew" - depending on your pronunciation of the new-age meathead stereotype.
If I was a better writer I'd try to convey the sad story of what the "Real World" has evolved into. The show used to cast people you could actually relate to, and socially relevant things used to happen. Now "Real World" is set to leave its teenage years behind with the show's 20th season in March, and MTV set up The Real World Awards Bash for the occasion.
I can't really see folks from the show I used to watch snagging awards in categories like "Best Meltdown," "Best Phone Call Gone Bad" or "Best Brush With The Law." (If you want to vote, the voting opened online this week and it goes until Feb. 29).
Despite all that, I'm not complaining when a new episode of "The Gauntlet III" hits my TV screen each week. Not watching "The Real World" would be like taking away part of my being. If pop culture consciousness starts between the ages of 5 and 10, then we literally grew up together. I am who I am (and maybe if there are a large amount of other lame pop culture 'obsessers,' we are who we are) indirectly because of "The Real World."
Take sexuality for example. I never had the birds and the bees talk with my dad like he did with my grandpa. I simply snuck TV after lights out and let "The Real World" do the educating. I first encountered sexuality because of "The Real World: San Francisco." Cast member Pedro was an open homosexual who was struggling with AIDS.
I felt similar growing pains last week when I came home to my roommate plowing through another episode of "The Gauntlet III." The last "Real World" cast I really followed was Hawaii, which is like comparing apples with…really, really terrible sour apples. For example, Irene from the Seattle cast was a real person who showed me that adults fight, and that disease can be really rough on an individual. CT on "The Gauntlet III" is a surreal idiot who shows me how to define the term "bro," "bra" or "brew" - depending on your pronunciation of the new-age meathead stereotype.
If I was a better writer I'd try to convey the sad story of what the "Real World" has evolved into. The show used to cast people you could actually relate to, and socially relevant things used to happen. Now "Real World" is set to leave its teenage years behind with the show's 20th season in March, and MTV set up The Real World Awards Bash for the occasion.
I can't really see folks from the show I used to watch snagging awards in categories like "Best Meltdown," "Best Phone Call Gone Bad" or "Best Brush With The Law." (If you want to vote, the voting opened online this week and it goes until Feb. 29).
Despite all that, I'm not complaining when a new episode of "The Gauntlet III" hits my TV screen each week. Not watching "The Real World" would be like taking away part of my being. If pop culture consciousness starts between the ages of 5 and 10, then we literally grew up together. I am who I am (and maybe if there are a large amount of other lame pop culture 'obsessers,' we are who we are) indirectly because of "The Real World."
Take sexuality for example. I never had the birds and the bees talk with my dad like he did with my grandpa. I simply snuck TV after lights out and let "The Real World" do the educating. I first encountered sexuality because of "The Real World: San Francisco." Cast member Pedro was an open homosexual who was struggling with AIDS.
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