I remember being younger and watching shows like The Real World, Big Brother and American Idol. These shows had real people with real issues and real talent. They weren’t full of drama but were fun to watch, kept me entertained and didn’t drain me from all the toxicity being shown on my TV screen. Now when I turn on the TV I feel like I’m tuned into a mean girl series with a bunch of grown ass women and D list celebrities going at it every chance they get. If I wanted to watch a bunch of women fighting I’d go and watch reruns of The Bad Girl’s Club. At least I knew what I would be getting from watching them.
Some of my favorite VH1 shows like Love & Hip Hop, Basketball Wives and Black Ink Crew, I’ve thrown in the trash and I can’t ever see myself digging out the garbage that it is. Reality has completely been revamped and the story-lines are either so exaggerated or repetitive that you can no longer call the show reality. It’s pretty much a ghetto soap opera, with horrible acting and when the cast gets tired of their played out story they jump to another city and end up on another show, where more behind the scene manipulation is done. We’ve even gotten to the point where these cast members are rushing to social media to defend themselves and talking about how the crew edited the show to make them seem like a horrible person.
Take Moniece for instance; she’s a bit toxic but she has done her best to better herself and throughout her time on the show I can honestly say she’s matured, but of course the show-runners are always finding a way to make us see the old Moniece. We’ve seen her come on Love & Hip Hop and talk about her struggles with depression and how it affected her when it came to being a mother. We’ve seen her in a constant battle with the father of her child (who is trash by the way for talking mad shit about her, but runs to her whenever he needs a place to stay or some shit) and fighting almost every woman that he found himself involved with. When she finally tried to take a step away from that toxicity, there was always some one around the corner waiting to bring her down, which lead her to finally find a way out of her contract in order to focus on her mental health. I don’t blame her for it either. As a mother, I don’t know how much I would be able to take, especially when it comes to people questioning me about my child and how I’m raising him. Then knowing they will eventually see the show or hear about it from someone at school, would take a toll on me.
There’s just some shit that should really be off limits, especially children, which we know cast members like Hazel E and Masika have no filter about. Till this day they are still having a 4-year-old argument about Masika messing with Hazel’s ex, as well as Hazel making claims about Masika’s parenting, which led to CPS being called on her. Mind you at one point these women used to be friends, but once you sign up for a reality show it should be written in bold that, lies will be told, friends will come to blows and there’s a chance for one season or more you’ll be bullied by the whole cast.
Oh and let me tell you, those Real Housewives are good for clicking up and bullying the newest and/or oldest member of the cast. I’ve been watching RHOBH since I could remember and I’ve found myself going on these women’s pages yelling into the comments, LEAVE DENISE ALONE. Last season they loved her because she showed them more of her wild side and now that she’s trying to clean up her image for the show a bit the women are coming at he from all angles and even bringing on old cast members to start rumors that no one wants their children to hear. The latest story line on the show has been whether or not Denise slept with a former cast-mate. Now, none of us know what’s true except the two of them, so the fact that I spent all season watching them question her “affair” all season was triggering me. At what point do you let it go and say to yourself, that’s her business and she obviously doesn’t want us in it nor should I keep pushing for the answer I want to hear. Most of the women on that show have nothing but daughters and they should be setting a better example for them. Instead they degrade one another, pass constant judgement and throw out child like insults and almost ruin marriages/relationships; all for a check.
I’ve had to remove myself from watching most of these shows. Unfortunately most of them have been reality shows with a black cast. It’s only so much one can handle and I wish my people would think a little more highly of themselves and start showing their support for the women and men they claim to have so much love and respect for. When will they start taking a look in the mirror and asking themselves, have I taken my role as a reality star too far? What they put out into the world on the shows they sign up for leaves a stain that’s almost impossible to remove, once they decide they’ve had enough.
For once, I wish I could turn on the TV and not see insults, punches and drinks being thrown throughout the whole episode. Quite frankly they could cancel all those damn toxic waste of shows and I wouldn’t miss it one bit.
Queen Media Collective 