Reality Television: Exploitation in the 21st Century
Published: Friday - May 25, 2007
Words by Alyssa Menard
Flavor Of Love (Photo: VH1)
For decades now, black women have appeared in music videos degrading themselves to nearly nothing just to make it big. The superficial idea that dancing around to lyrics that label them "hoes" and "tricks" will land them a one-way ticket to Hollywood is an age-long misconception that has cost black women as a whole their reputation. For this very reason, video vixens have received the blunt of the criticism from women and the black community alike, for allowing themselves to be subjected to such demeaning behavior. However, times have changed and business has cleverly found new means of exploiting us.
"Flavor of Love" is a new take on the "Bachelor" reality show that focuses on Flavor Flav and the 20 women who compete for his heart. However, it is pretty ironic that most of the women look like they came straight out of a music video. Of course rappers get groupies, even the unattractive ones. But, you don't usually see that many pretty women lining up to date a 50+ year old has-been rapper whose money has long depleted and is still living in the projects. It was clearly a deliberate attempt to make the most of the cameras and rush into stardom overnight. I won't lie; I like many other people, am secretly addicted to watching. It's entertaining to watch the constant drama, the boozing and the repulsive make-out sessions with Flav in the hot tub. However, what kind of message are we sending here? There was so much controversy after the Don Imus rant, especially after he justified what he said by stating that it has been done by people within our own community. There was a lot of backlash for his futile attempts to cover up his mistakes, but was he really wrong? "Flavor of Love," the majority being African-American women, films them flaunting their breasts, gyrating on strip poles, and bending over and shaking their booties. How is this any different than a music video, besides the fact that we are now given a whole hour to laugh at these women's lack of class?
"Flavor of Love" has broken the record to become the most watched television show on VH1 TWICE. The saddest part is that black women make up the majority of the show's viewers. So, I repeat the question. What signal are we sending to the world by allowing this type of objectification of our own people? We have shown so much support for this show to date that it has garnered three spin-offs based on the series. But whose idea do you really think it was to continue to milk this series for all it's worth? The producers, of course. To add salt to the wound, I can assure you that the majority of those producers making that decision are not people of color. So who is really getting played? These women, who clearly are playing Flav to advance their own careers, are ultimately being played by the producers who are laughing all the way to the bank. For a race in desperate need of a facelift to combat those negative stereotypes that have plagued us for far too long, we have just taken ten steps backward.
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