How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Atomic Real L Word

Everyone hated The Real L Word. Big effin surprise. You haven’t seen it? Here ya go…
I don’t understand why people thought this show would be different from other reality shows. If you hate reality shows, you’re going to hate The Real L Word. And guess what, you’re still gonna watch it. Because people love talking about shit they hate more than they like talking about shit they love. It’s easier.

Have you ever been in section and you didn’t do the reading but the TA calls on you. Do you panic? You do if you’re a rookie. What does a seasoned vet do? Say they hated that ish! It could be the bestselling book of all time ever in the history of the world that Ghandi wrote and my momma edited. If I didn’t read that ish, I just wan’t feeling it. It’s easier to say you don’t like something and that’s what people are doing with The Real L Word. Of course it’s filled with drama. Of course a couple of the characters are douche baskets. Of course someone probably has an eating disorder. Even though it’s about lesbians, it’s still about a group of hand-picked prototypes that are filmed to titillate, amuse, and make you realize why everyone hates America.

The whole thought process behind the show is to validate these characters Ilene Chaiken created on The L Word. What Ilene doesn’t realize is WE DON’T CARE. As vain as the people picked for this show are, we’re even vainer because we just want to watch people pretty damn close to ourselves on TV and then think “I could be on this show.” This doesn’t apply to just mobots. The average person watching the show is not going to be shuffling hook-ups in and out of town or hosting fashion week or capitalizing on post-Oprah hype.

People are so diverse and different that no one is ever going to assemble the perfect cast (except maybe me). Since this is true, what we want are people we can relate to in some way, shape, or form. And as much as you don’t want to admit it, I think you may see yourself or someone you know in these people. Sure these women might be trapped under inexplicable dreads. These women might be trying to wife baby mommas when everyone I know is trying to avoid theirs. These women might be picking up someone who may or may not be Veronica from Road Rules.

 

They’re still people. You can’t get mad at them for the choices they make because they’re lesbians on TV. It’s not their fault that there aren’t more representations of queer women on TV and it isn’t their responsibility to try to represent everyone. The only thing they are responsible for is making a fool of themselves for my entertainment.

I’m just saying, if you expect a realistic representation of queermos, why expect if from a channel whose characters include a drug dealing mother, a serial killer, and a pill-popping nurse. If you’re looking at Showtime for a look in the mirror, you have some personal problems you should attend to.


Then the complaints about parts being scripted…by now everyone should know that the only way you’re going to get people to be themselves in front of a camera is to hide the frickin cameras. I think that might be illegal but it would be effin worth it.

Just don’t do it to me.

Imagine the prospect of someone seeing everything you do at every moment of every day and tell me you would act natural. You couldn’t. Shit we do is embarrassing. Just go through the rest of the day and think about if someone was watching every move you make. You wouldn’t want people to see because you’re fuckin crazy, right? We all are. So don’t be mad when people try to tone down the crazy for TV. They’re toning it down and look how much still gets through! Let us rejoice and revel in humanity. Let us enjoy The Real L Word for what it is: typical reality TV. Without this show, there would be less lezzies on TV. And if these lezzies don’t spike your interest, don’t watch it.