The REAL World

What happens when 20 seasons go by and The Real World is still on MTV?

Yeah, can you believe this season is The Real World XX? Somehow I think its only appropriate that they are defining it by the roman numerals because it reflects exactly what the show has become...some double X soft core porn programming rather than the sociological experiment it began as.

I admit that on the rare occasion of channel flipping I will sometimes stop on the show for a few minutes (because I can't stomach an entire episode anymore) and lament the "days of yore" when it was actually an really fun & interesting show that really sparked the entire reality TV genre. Remember those first seasons in NY or London when the cast were actually intelligent (or at least fairly so) and had some talent and some goals? Now it seems the casts are nothing but oversexed bums who really have no real goals.

Well I was curious to find out if my impression was actually true, so I did a brief websearch of "where are they now?" Real World cast members. Guess what? It seems that those early cast members have, indeed, gone on to do some pretty impressive things with their lives. They are doctors, Disney executives, movie actors, even a D.A. here in Wisconsin. And the cast members from the more recent years? One was arrested for grand theft auto & prostitution, another several have been in Playboy, and more yet continue to make their "careers" by being on multiple seasons of MTV's Challenge shows, dating other cast members. Yeah, I get that those more recent cast members aren't as old as the beginning season members, but it was a matter of looking at what they did shortly after their stint on the reality show ended.

I think something has most definately changed in the mindset & intellect of young people in 20 years time. The sex, the fights, the illegal activity...its not only become a way of life but entertainment, as well! Or perhaps its because it has become entertainment that its become a way of life?

I wish that people would go back to being real. REAL responsible. REAL ambitious. REAL aware. That's The Real World kids.