Ok, so despite being exhausted I made myself stay up a whole extra hour last night to watch the premiere of the newest Bravo! show The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Ever since the preview the network aired a couple of months ago, I have been giddy with excitement about the show – particularly because I still get the shakes from my Real Housewives of New York City withdrawl.
But alas, I was disappointed. WAY disappointed. First of all, the New York show was so much fun to watch because of the ladies’ personalities. Love them or hate them, they were fascinating and the interaction between them was a delightful trainwreck to behold. Their social status (that may or may not have existed), wealth (ditto), and titles (Luann, we know you’re not a real countess) were just a sideshow.
The Atlanta show was basically a new incarnation of that old MTV show Cribs. Or a new version of The Fabulous Life Of…. The whole thing was about how much money these women had, how they were buying new ridiculously extravagant houses (one has a bowling alley in the basement!), how they only wear designer labels because “life is short – I wanna die wearing Dior” as one housewife – Kim (ha!) – put it.
Oh, and Kim’s the white one. The only white one. Although she said she “really should have been born black” and is “a black woman stuck in a white woman’s body.” I’ll leave that alone. Oh, and Kim has an unnamed sugar daddy called “Big Papa” who buys her stuff like obscenely expensive cars just because she calls him and says she wants it. Sounds sketchy to me. But whatevs.
The biggest trainwreck of the group was NeNe. She is the much younger wife of an “entrepreneur” who, honestly, doesn’t seem to be that fond of her. She is loud, profane, a bit vulgar, and seems to believe that a high price tag on your clothes means you have style (I and any mirror would beg to differ with her). I literally cringed watching her. She seems to reenforce every negative stereotype of black women that exists. It wasn’t fun. It was a bit horrifying.
The rest of the women were mostly wives or ex-wives of pro athletes who seemed to equate success with marrying rich and (except for one woman who has a business) doing nothing. Really, these women have staffs of cooks, stylists, assistants, publicists – one even has a “governess” – and they do NOTHING!!! One – Sheree, who is apparently NeNe’s arch nemesis – kept talking about how stressed she was and how much work it was for her . . . to organize her birthday party. Wait – let me restate that – to direct her staff to organize her birthday party. How stressful. I don’t know how she does it.
And for as much time as they all spend shopping and talking about how good they have to look to be a part of Atlanta high society, they don’t looks so great. I mean Kim’s hair extensions look like Jessica Simpson’s cast offs, and NeNe’s “perfect dress” she wore to Sheree’s party looked like something from Forever 21. I think I finally understand what Dolly Parton meant when she said: “It takes a lot of money to look this trashy.”
Don’t get me wrong – I ain’t mad at any sistah for getting over. But I’m disappointed that there is absolutely nothing endearing about any of these women. There is no Bethenny equivalent for me to love. Or even a Alex character for me to laugh at. They are all just sad. Rich and sad. Perhaps I’d like the show better if it were for the fact that I am, like many Americans, genuinely worried about the security of my job, my 401(k) and my future. Watching these tricks run up $10K on an Amex buying shoes isn’t so amusing.
But I’ll probably keep watching anyway.
I agree with every word of your post. There is something wrong with a 38 year-old woman that requests a birthday in the shape of a handbag!
Also, Sheree… demanding a 7 figure divorce settlement so she can live a, “better lifestyle” than the one she lives at the moment??? What is that all about.
The thing I liked about the women in the OC version is that, they had real problems. They were going through divorces because their husbands were upset that they got older and put on weight. That is an issue many women deal with. Most of the women on the OC version had jobs and were work-aholics and they had to deal with that issue with their families. The women in the show had kids going to college and getting jobs and the women were dealing with empty nest syndrome. All issues that normal women deal with.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta… just a trashy group of self-proclamated “classy” women. And ladies, remember it this way, the first rule of “Fight Club” and the first rule of being “classy” are essentially the same!!!
Right on Elleen!!!!!