Six years later, with my favorite salad from Veggie Grill on a Friday night, you can find me wrapped up in a blanket, totally invested in the drama that is Sammi Sweetheart and Ronnie from Jersey Shore. Why are they fighting again? Is it really cheating if they were broken up? I repeat, six years later and I am still ALL ABOUT IT.
This past week, we all tuned in to watch the finale of Bachellorette and even if you didn't, you couldn't avoid hearing about it from Good Morning America or your Facebook feed. I never truly got into the show, however my roommate was all about it (she can't get mad about this, I just admitted to binge watching Jersey Shore). She would yell at the television the same way we yell during the Superbowl. I could hear our neighbors yelling from across the street. Everyone was so mad at Jojo for picking the wrong guy, the "bad guy", the one with the good family name who she obviously is with because of his connection to fame. Everyone had a comment about this relationship that they however were so invested in as for the last six weeks, Americatruly knew little about. But, we have watched this "girl next door" pick a man out of 25 as they are all chasing her, as if these were the last few men planet earth had to offer.
This girl, excuse me, woman- didn't have to worry about any of those guys not being into her- nor did she have to sit down on her couch and over analyze a text message with ten girlfriends telling her what to reply to a confusing text message. Instead, she had to meet with a stylist, a makeup artist and go on ABC funded high end dates and chose a guy who wanted "her heart" - aka more air time on national television.
"Why are we so invested in something that isn't real? Does it allow us to live out a fantasy? Or perhaps give us a break from our own troubles?"
I believe we watch the Bachelor, the Bachelorette and all the other dating shows they now have on television, for the same reason we get invested in celebrity drama- because anything is possible in someone else's life. We bond over gossip and drama. It creates a unity as fake as JoJo's tan and although there is nothing relatable about some of the things on the show, the emotions of confusion and heartbreak are all the same.
As a woman, its nice for once to see the man go through what women usually go through on the daily. Things like, the confusion on not knowing where the other person stands, the drama of there being "others" in the picture and trying to get an honest answer from someone who doesn't want to look like the bad guy. All these things that JoJo put her herd of potential suitors through, is every emotion a woman feels after not getting called after a spectacular second date. However when we react the same way those men react we are called "dramatic"- when they do it, its called "good for television".
So next time you want to watch some trashy television, don't just write it off as a "guilty pleasure"- ask yourself, "why am I taking time out of my precious life" to watch this?
Maybe its because you find it simply entertaining, maybe you find it to be such a train wreck and you don't have as good of drama in your life so you get invested in someone else's- or maybe you simply enjoy watching other people being idiots. I know why I love watching the Jersey Shore- because I wish I could be as honest with everyone else the same way Snooki is. She has her middle finger in the air, a drink in her hand and she is just upfront about everything going on in her mind. Also, I would love to be a meatball for a day although,I don't think I would survive.
Davina Adjani
I was once told to stop writing and find something I'm good at and I have been writing ever since. I am a San Franciscan in Los Angeles who secretly loves it,a Frasier fanatic obsessed with country music and French Bulldogs. Within five minutes of talking to me you will know all about my family,who are my absolute everything. I live my life fully and honestly, and refuse to be confined by the fear that my intentions maybe misinterpreted. My Oma (grandmother) raised me to believe that love should always be a priority but most importantly, loving yourself is essential in this crazy world and with that in everything I write, I try to give the medicine of reality sugar coated with a sense of humor, hoping that through the toughest of times women know not only do they have the strength to overcome any obstacle but how spectacular they truly are.