And I was not disappointed.
The show's basic premise: take a group of brides-to-be with severely low self-esteem and pit them against each other in weekly competitions. Each woman has a "Wish List" of the plastic surgery procedures she wants done (you can check that out on the link above: one woman wants her second toe shortened. Also, one of the contestants is only 20!),and if she wins that week's competition, she gets one piece of work done from her list. The overall winner of the show gets everything done on her list, and gets her dream wedding paid for. As each contestant is voted off, the host (the ever classy Shanna Moakler) tells them, "Your wedding will still go on. It just won't be perfect."
This week's challenge featured them having to write their vows...and then compared that to a video of their future spouses telling us what they wished their brides-to-be would vow. This included things from the sweet (always be faithful) to the mundane (keep the house clean) to the kinds of things that just don't belong in wedding vows (take ski lessons? Make him work out more? Have sex with him on call?).
Although it was obviously catered to their future husbands' wants/needs/dreams, the women took it up in earnest. Sadly, the one girl on the show who was truly sympathetic and could be said to "need" plastic surgery (she'd had a lump removed from one of her breasts, and wanted to even them out, saying she wanted to feel sexy again. Sad.) lost the competition and then was voted off by her compatriots for being too stiff of competition.
The bride who won? She was immediately whisked off to get her nose done, which the surgeon noted was the only thing ruining her pretty face. She came out of the surgery and immediately asked for her mom. When she came back to the house, the rest of the brides surrounded her, cooing over her new nose and that she'd actually gotten it done. But she didn't look good: she looked sick, and she looked beaten. It was hard to watch.
The show is a perfect storm for ratings: it preys on the insecurites of women and makes them look like stereotypical, image obsessed bitches (which always gets fantastic ratings and press...think of how apeshit everyone went over the downfall of Britney and Lindsay), features something gruesome but fascinating, and it's all about competition. I don't have the energy for a serious feminist critique, or even a rant, but I don't think I need to indulge in either of those. This show is just sad. It did inspire me though: I now want to start sitting outside of plastic surgeon office's, protesting and telling women they're beautiful, their tits are great, go home.
Anyone else watch this atrocity?
Much love,
The Sheriff
I would never, ever watch this garbage, but if you actually protest outside of plastic surgeon's offices I will be right there with you.
ReplyDeleteThis feels like it belongs in Repo. I'm creeped out.
ReplyDeleteJust one (pretty unrelated) thought -- why isn't it feminist to like weddings? Isn't feminism about being genuine, whatever you're into?
ReplyDeleteJust thought that little comment you put in about it being unfeminist was odd...
I think that the Sheriff's point about weddings is that, traditionally, they are not very feminist affairs. Not that they can't be, but even many contemporary weddings continue to involve the bride being handed from her father to her husband like a piece of property. However, weddings can and should be positive celebrations of love, and there's definitely not anything unfeminist about loving that!
ReplyDeleteI don't think feminism is about being genuine, because there plenty of things you can genuinely like that are part of the patriarchy and oppression of women (see: plastic surgery!).
ReplyDeleteBut I meant that most weddings aren't necessarily grounded in the ideals of feminism. They're often over-commercialized affairs steeped in a serious dose of old gender roles, and in that was aren't precisely feminist. Nonetheless,I fuckin love them.
--The Sheriff