Is Thomas Ravenel another #MeToo casualty?

At left, famous Republican socialite Thomas Ravenel (with Ashley Jacobs), of Bravo network's Southern Charm.








Will Folks (whom I interviewed for my own radio show, years ago) has just taken his life in his hands and reported some dirt on Thomas Ravenel, the Palmetto State's own reality TV star, world-class cokehead and dropper of babies into pools.

I say "taken his life in his hands" since Folks has already heard from the lawyer of our famously-litigious ex-state-treasurer, and I hope he has the money to cover the legal fees.

From Folks' blog FITSNews, here are the goods:

[Panama City Beach, FL model and real-estate agent] Ashley Perkins, 29, alleged in a series of tweets this week that Southern Charm star Thomas Ravenel – the former treasurer of South Carolina and a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and 2014 – settled a sexual assault case involving her mother two years ago.

...

It’s not immediately clear whether a law enforcement investigation into these allegations was ever initiated. In fact, it’s not immediately clear whether law enforcement was ever even notified of these allegations – which are said to have taken place in Charleston, S.C. in December of 2015. Further complicating matters, the alleged victim – a 53-year-old real estate agent who resides in Panama City Beach – reportedly signed a non-disclosure agreement during a mediation at the Belmond Charleston Place Hotel in June of 2016 barring her from discussing details of the incident.

...

Perkins’ initial accusatory tweet toward Ravenel – which included images of wrist injuries allegedly inflicted on her mom by the 55-year-old reality star – was posted on April 11, but she deleted it that same day after her mother was allegedly contacted by Ravenel’s attorneys.

The next day, however, Perkins posted the allegations (and images) again – and has since re-posted them at least ten times (and referenced them in dozens of other tweets to multiple media outlets).

Perkins told us she was upset Ravenel’s attorneys were allegedly harassing her mother over these tweets – which included hashtags that referenced Ravenel and Kathryn Dennis (his ex-girlfriend, Southern Charm co-star and the mother of his two young children).

“Thomas’ attorneys emailed my mom’s attorneys the next morning (April 12),” she told us. “My mom didn’t know what they were talking about. I told her that (the tweets) were pulled and they were. Then later, Thomas’ attorney contacted my mom’s attorney again and said that I still had hashtags up that they didn’t like. They didn’t like Kathryn Dennis and Thomas being tagged.”

That’s when Perkins decided to go forward with the story.

Read the rest of it... and if you have problems with this story, for goodness sake, sue Will Folks, intrepid ex-lover of our ex-governor, not me.

I will certainly stay on this story as long as Will can afford to!

~*~


EDIT/UPDATE - 4/24/18:
FITSNews Interview: Ashley Perkins Speaks On Thomas Ravenel Allegations
The model who launched the Southern Charm sexual assault story speaks exclusively to this news site

EDIT/UPDATE - 5/3/18:
Thomas Ravenel’s #MeToo Problem Escalates
Allegations of sexual assault against reality TV star hit the mainstream after his girlfriend gives online interview

EDIT/UPDATE - 5/8/18:
Charleston SC Police Investigating Sexual Assault Claim Against Thomas Ravenel

Senate candidate Thomas Ravenel drops baby into pool

DEAD AIR officially confirms that this IS the baby that was dropped in the pool. (from Thomas Ravenel's senate commercial)










South Carolina residents, you've been looking at that baby long enough, yes? I even got a complaint on my last blog post, remarking about the ubiquitous, never-ending, look-at-my-cute-baby!-i-might-be-on-Bravo-but-I'm-heterosexual! ad campaign, featuring infamous Reality TV star, Independent senatorial candidate, former SC Treasurer and celebrated convicted cokehead Thomas Ravenel and his adorable little offspring. He assures us, he cares so much about the little darling, you should definitely elect him. After all, he comes from a rich family with a fancy-ass bridge named after them and he's on TV!

These annoying, cloying commercials have been non-stop, the little Ravenel darling foisted on us morning, noon and night.

And then, he... well, he dropped the baby in the pool. Something about a stylist. And then... well, he has since broken up with his long-suffering babymama, Kathryn Dennis, 29 years his junior. People are shocked, shocked I tell you. (okay, not really)

~*~

During our trip to Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island, Mr Daisy and I decided to drop in for a bite at the aptly-named Page's Okra Grill in Mount Pleasant, for some delicious fried okra and other southern goodies. And at the next table, I heard some old fellas with deep low-country accents, chortling in a decidedly Democratic fashion, about Rav-inn-nell and what he had done last Frad-dee (low-country version of Friday), whilst passing around their iphones for emphasis. Chortle, chortle, snort, and one fella collapsed in a true belly-laugh. I was dying to know, and nearly interrupted their lunch to ask what Rav-inn-nell had done THIS time.

Luckily, I didn't have to wait long... it was all over the low-country, from Democrat to Democrat and from iphone to iphone.

Ravenel's baby, the dearly beloved infant in the commercial, fell into the pool. With Ravenel, apparently. (Everybody keeps adding, the one in the commercial!)

You know, some convicted cokeheads might actually get arrested for blundering into the pool with a seven-month-old, but then, most cokeheads do not come from one of the most powerful Republican families in the state.

From Charleston City Paper:

A woman told Charleston police that Thomas Ravenel, a U.S. Senate candidate and star of the reality show Southern Charm, assaulted her last Friday night at his Charlotte Street home. According to the Charleston Police Department, an investigation into the incident is ongoing and Ravenel has not been arrested.

The alleged victim, Lauren Moser, told police that she is a friend of Kathryn Dennis, Ravenel's girlfriend and mother of Ravenel's child, and is also Dennis' stylist. Moser says she was invited to Ravenel and Dennis' residence at 29 1/2 Charlotte St. on the evening of Oct. 17 "but was concerned about going because she had had previous run-ins with the offender [whose] behavior is unpredictable especially when under the influence," according to a police incident report.

Moser says she arrived at the house at about 11 p.m. and relieved the nanny since Ravenel and Dennis had not yet arrived home. She told police that "everything was fine for a while" after the couple arrived home until later in the night when she was sitting outside the residence talking with Dennis. At that point, Moser told police that Ravenel "stormed out of the house with the 7-month-old juvenile and yelled to Kathryn that she needed to take care of the sleeping child," according to the report.

Then, as Ravenel was walking toward Moser and Dennis, he reportedly slipped and fell into the pool with the baby. Ravenel reportedly pulled the baby out of the pool and handed her to Dennis. At this point, Moser says she pulled out her cell phone and started recording the incident "because she felt that more was about to transpire," according to the report.

The report continues:

The victim stated that as she was walking behind the offender into the house he swung the door hard (as to close it) when he cleared [the] doorway and it bounced off of the victim's knee. The victim stated that when the offender saw that the door did not close he turned and swung the door again and this time the door struck the victim on the inside of the right arm due to the fact that her hand was raised because she was videoing the episode. The victim stated that the door hit her so hard it caused her to topple backwards down three steps and into some bushes.

Moser told police that Ravenel then went to the second floor of the house, and she went into the living room to sit down and "gather her thoughts and to make sure that the baby and Kathryn were fine before she left," according to the report. Then Ravenel reportedly returned to the living room naked and screamed, "Bitch, get your stuff and get out" while bringing Moser's belongings to her. Moser says she gathered her belongings and left.

Moser did not report the incident until Monday night at about 8 p.m. She says she waited to file the report because she "wanted to think about the incident and to wait until her emotions died down." She told police she was in pain the next day but did not have any broken bones. Police observed bruising on the inside of her right arm.

Ravenel did not immediately return a request for comment at his office. The police report indicates that Moser shot video of the incident, but a Charleston Police Department spokesman says police do not have a copy of the video.

They don't??!? Nah, go on.

That same memory hole that allowed Ravenel to abuse coke for years, see it? The rich, as we see, can do whatever the hell they want.

The update on this story, from Thomas Ravenel himself:

UPDATE, 5 p.m.: Thomas Ravenel released the following statement in response to the allegations:

I learned through a news report that the Charleston Police Department is investigating this incident, and I am totally confident that once the investigation is completed, the truth will come out and any allegations against me will be found to be without merit. I look forward to meeting with any member of law enforcement if they believe it will be helpful to their investigation.

Reached by phone, Ravenel also said he would not participate in filming any further episodes of Southern Charm until after the Nov. 4 election.

And so, there it is.

Some fun mental exercises: imagine if this was you or me. Now, change the race of the perp, and the neighborhood. I can imagine somebody actually getting shot over this, if they were the wrong color. Imagine if this was a black hip-hop star or NFL player. Mix and match, play the privilege game. Always remember: THIS IS AN ALREADY-CONVICTED COKEFIEND, not someone without a police record. He was arrested only a year ago for drunken driving, as well. (guilty)

Some people, with a record like that, would have their babies taken AWAY from them for this behavior. Not Ravenel. Never Ravenel.

It just makes for good TV.

Being rich means never having to say you're sorry.

~*~

We will be discussing Ravenel and other stuff tonight on Occupy the Microphone, WOLI radio, 910AM and 105.7FM on your upstate radio dial. Join us at 8pm and weigh in! You can listen live here.

Michael Thompson for SC House District 34

TONIGHT on Occupy the Microphone----Michael Thompson, Democratic candidate for South Carolina House District 34, will be joining us. LISTEN LIVE HERE at 8-9pm, WOLI radio, 105.7FM and 910AM on your upstate radio dial.

This will be Michael's third week on our show, which is where I took the above photo. THREE WEEKS! (((trumpets))) Such a brave man, to take on the Green Party extremists/talk radio crazies! That alone, should be sufficient to impress you.

An upholder of Democratic values, a veritable MAN OF THE PEOPLE, an intrepid laborer in the halls of democracy and the House Democratic Caucus... and a most hardy soul indeed! DEAD AIR unabashedly and enthusiastically endorses Michael Thompson~!

Vote for him, Sparkle City residents and others in District 34. (map of district - PDF) He will serve Spartanburg and the surrounding areas very well.

(Michael on Facebook, Michael on Twitter.)

~*~

Rumors of this blog's demise have been greatly exaggerated!

My energies have been scattered.

Mr Daisy says, "The internet was cool before social media took over." Whether you agree with him or not, blogging as the standard certainly has gone by the wayside in so many respects.

I tweet my various pop-culture distractions and share old-school historical footnotes and strange art on tumblr. I now take my musician-photos straight to Flickr and no longer announce them here. Facebook and Google+ take up the rest of the slack, as I prefer to share personal information only with friends and not the entire world.

The longer one blogs, the more the Blue Meanies take aim, and the less one can feel welcome, even (unbelievably!) in one's own space.

I now blog here when I specifically have something important to say that it seems few (or no) folks are saying online. Since everybody is now talking at once, that tends to be my yardstick. It concentrates the mind wonderfully, and focuses on what is genuinely crucial, not just whatever catches my fancy.

The main thing that brings people to this blog is: information here that you simply can't find anywhere else, although you once could. Now we have paywalls, broken links, countless bad acts dropped down the memory hole, bloggers disappearing into the ether, mainstream media (newspapers and magazines) folding left and right, etc. It has a been a real surprise for me to learn: the much-heralded information superhighway makes it just as easy to "lose" facts and figures as it ever was, maybe even easier. (If the net is "wiped clean" of someone, it truly seems as if they never existed; if there is no internet account of an event, it can be judged never to have happened.) The more facts and events one can report in such an environment, the better.

And then, there is the fun fact that bloggers can focus on whatever we choose; we can report gossip in the manner of the NATIONAL ENQUIRER: rumors say _____. Rumors are good enough for us. Bring on the rumors. Sometimes, we have often learned, the rumors are TRUE. Boo-yah!

When the Bravo network, for example, started airing the rich-people-porn show "Southern Charm"--suddenly everybody wanted to know about (former SC Treasurer) Thomas Ravenel's history as a cokehead. Back in the day, the mainstream news organizations, obediently kissing the ass of both government AND the rich, were very polite about that sordid mess and tip-toed around it. If you wanted the real dirt, you had to go to alternative media and bloggers. Thus, that is where the story remains today. I got tons of hits when "Southern Charm" first aired, and I just got a ton more now that Ravenel has announced he is leaving the show. (Ravenel is currently running for the Senate as an Independent against Lindsey Graham)

New blog slogan: All the news that's fit to print, that (mostly) nobody has yet. (Plus old music. When I get to it.)

I think that is a fine tradition to continue, so I will.

Off to the coast, see you in a week or so. Join us on the show tonight!

Garbage television addiction update

Although I proudly bragged in Monday's post about being a bad bitch, goodness mercy, folks... ain't no way I could measure up to the current crop of REAL HOUSEWIVES on the Bravo network. I'm currently watching both the New York and Orange County editions, she admitted, embarrassed. These shows put one in mind of slo-mo trainwrecks; gaudy, narcissistic, hedonistic, expensive, collagen-injected, botoxed, designer-clad, exquisitely-decorated, very thin trainwrecks. On another level, they are one long commercial for capitalism as The Entire Lifestyle, the Alpha and the Omega. (The human flaws, then, are also a manifestation of the lifestyle.)

Unfortunately, this season's bitchitude doesn't reach the mythic levels of RHO-New Jersey. RHONJ was totally in a class by itself, featuring such Golden Moments of Reality TV as Teresa's now-legendary table-flipping routine (even satired on SOUTH PARK), hair-pulling at chi-chi country clubs, psychic-healing by telephone and lots of other suburban fun. The New York/California crowd simply can't measure up to the cheesiness of our beloved Jersey Girls. You could wait all season and NOBODY will pull anyone else's hair, or their weave either. (sigh) Now, the Atlanta gals, especially NeNe, have engaged in some hair-pulling, and that show understands WHY WE WATCH. Don't be tardy for the party!

The one consistent sign of intelligence in these shows, Bethenny Frankel, got her own (well-deserved) spin-off TV show on Bravo. I enjoy watching her wittily fuss about her new baby, hubby, business, in-laws, etc, but it certainly isn't as much fun as listening to her dish about the other New York Housewives in her very honest, snarky, funny, acerbic, barbed fashion. And the fights! The Bethenny vs Kelly bouts were almost as good as Teresa turning over tables in posh restaurants. Any chance of a rematch between you girls? Your fans demand it!

Will Kelly guest star on Bethenny's show, maybe do a bunny-boiler routine? Not a stretch at all, and it's certainly better than Kelly pretending to be a reporter; Brenda Starr on crack. (And we can all do without more of THAT, please.) Yall need to jazz this stuff up, or I'ma quit watching.

Teresa raised the bar and now we want housewives attacking each other. And what's next? "Housewife snuff"?*

The ratings would go through the roof.



*I am suddenly reminded of the amusing short story "The National Pastime" by Norman Spinrad. Can't find a link.

Top Chef Ageism

Robin Leventhal of Top Chef, photo by Michael Nank, from the Queen Anne Farmers Market. If this woman can be derisively called "grandma" by her fellow contestants, there is truly no hope for the rest of us.





After all the online gnashing of teeth, gah! I don't wanna think about ageism ANY MORE. I AM THROUGH.

So, time to watch our favorite food-porn. I turned on the TV last night for some simple, feel-good escapism. Yes, I wanted lingering, yummy pan-shots of attractive plates of foods I've never heard of, with sprigs of fennel festooned every which-way. NO RACHEL MADDOW! NO POLITICS! NO AFGHANISTAN AND NO MARK SANFORD!

Ha!

Dream on, grandma. Dream on.

My beloved Top Chef, which I have been bloody loyal to for 6 seasons, is now engaging in some blatant, nasty, ageist fun and games against contestant Robin Leventhal, whom the other contestants call "grandma" and like to trash-talk about being too old and not fitting in. In one scene I saw last night, several piggy-male contestants argued over who had been meaner to Robin. "Grandma needs to leave!" they all agreed.

By the way, did I tell you? Robin Leventhal is 42 years old. Forty-Two. 42.

Do you believe this?

Under the circumstances, all I could think is: Oh man, not here too. (((cries)))

When did cooking get to be the kids' territory? I mean, I do understand why fashion is; there is a constant search for the new, the upcoming, the next big thing. But cooking? I would think that age would bring much-needed expertise and valuable, crucial experience. The best cooks I have known have been doing it for decades and decades.

Well, I guess this show doesn't have anything to do with the FACTS, this is reality TV. And they can't use outright sexism and racism anymore, as they did on the MTV's prototypical reality show, THE REAL WORLD, and as they are perilously close to doing on the Real Housewives franchise, with NeNe and Kim close to brawling. And come to think of it, they DO love to trash the fat people at every available opportunity.

So, let's stir up some shit by trashing GRANNY. The um, 42-year-old "granny"--that is. What on earth would they do with a REAL granny?

Depressing, just very depressing.

I'll just go back to obsessing over Afghanistan.

Don't be tardy for the party: Real Housewives of Atlanta thread

I can't restrain myself from this any longer.

Yes, it's the REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA THREAD!

They're my favorite 'franchise' of Real Housewives so far.

Although I love my mindless trash-TV, Tami went and made it all political by alerting me to the fact that some people think the Atlanta housewives are especially low-rent. Hey, now! That IS going to piss me off! I take that as dissing the south, too--not just racist claptrap. (And let us be clear: singling out RHOA as somehow "worse"--IS racist claptrap.)

True Confessions--I've watched every single one of the "Real Housewives" series on the BRAVO network: Orange County, New York City (which earned its own DEAD AIR thread as well!), New Jersey and Atlanta. And I am here to say they are all equally narcissistic, dopey, solipsistic, shallow, silly, loud, screeching, self-centered, etc etc etc. If they weren't (as I said at Tami's), it wouldn't be "Real Housewives"--we tune in to our favorite TV shows for a reliable formula, as reliable as Monday Night Football or Wheel of Fortune. We want our narcissistic, screeching housewives! RHOA is 80% African-American, because Atlanta is.

Tami writes:

To be sure, the women on RHOA are no role models. They are alternately bullying, narcissistic, back-stabbing, money-grubbing, cliquey, disloyal, arrogant, self-involved, willfully ignorant, poorly spoken, wasteful and tackily nouveau riche. The show features street fights, wig tugging, name dropping, pole dancing, sugar daddy-funded goodies, “baller” fetishizing, vanity business projects, cattiness, loud arguments in nice restaurants (and nice offices..and nice homes), and whole lot of “flossing” and faux importance. Whether editing or reality is to blame, the women read like gross caricatures of the bourgie set, garnished with a little Jerry Springer.

But here’s the thing: These traits are not solely the hallmark of the black housewives of Atlanta. Reality shows are cast and scripted for drama, and the “Real Housewives” franchise serves up plenty of it with each and every season. So I find it curious that these five, black women are singled out as egregiously off-the-hook. Oh, I’m not saying that the white Real Housewives don’t catch hell. Half the thrill of watching all the RH series is snarking on the excess and ignorance afterwards. My problem is HOW the Atlanta wives are criticized.

A foray into online coverage, blogs and TV forums like the ones on Television Without Pity will uncover frequent use of the word “ghetto” and “hood,” references to this or that housewife looking “like a man,” hints that the housewives are high-classed “hos”–promiscuous, scheming she-devils hot on the trail of big money, snark about big booties, talk of how the women are embarrassing black folks. Hmmm…sounds kind of like the type of criticism often thrown at black women, even those who act demurely and properly. (Have you seen the stuff folks say about Michelle Obama and her daughters?) Frankly, I have more problem with this sort of racialized analysis than I do with anything that happens on “Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

I don't usually read TV-blogs and forums and therefore didn't know this racialized analysis of RHOA was going on. It just makes we wanna holler. (sigh)

There is no appreciable "difference" between any of the Real Housewives shows, except style and location. Personally, I like the clothes, shoes, houses, stores, restaurants and gewgaws from the Atlanta group best, too. (I figure this is a southern thing, and I am happy to see some variation in style.) I love how Atlanta looks, always have. And like Anderson Cooper, I am also passionate about NeNe Leakes, who has great natural comic timing and presence. She could be a real TV-star on her own. (She IS the Joneses!) When she gets mad and gets in people's faces with her stream-of-consciousness rants, she reminds me of my own mother, who would get seriously ramped up on amphetamines and do the same thing. (Later, drug-free, my mother continued this behavior whenever angry; it was as if this trait had embedded itself in her personality because it served her so well in dealing with her four husbands.) And similarly, when NeNe gets mad, watch out, people!

Because NeNe reminds me so much of my mother, I did not see her as especially "black"... and was unaware of the criticisms she has received for being the most "ghetto"--which I first realized when one of the women on the show said it. I can find these rather vicious criticisms all over the net; here is an example from one such blog:

NeNe Leakes “Ghetto” is the definition of the word. Loud, Country and Tacky! You can tell she hooked up with her guy “Who’s clearly old enough to be her father!” by givin’ up the ghetto head a.s.a.p and getting a baby in there quick! Loud and Obnoxious are the two words that best describe her.

And all us Loud, Country and Tacky people really LOVE NeNe, who reminds us our of Loud, Country and Tacky mamas.

Tami writes:

I asked in my post about RHOA whether white people were spending time agonizing over the shameful antics of the Bravo brand's white housewives and their families. I doubt it. I don't think white people feel the burden of the Orange County wives' rude, dull and ambitionless adult children. I don't think they read the shallowness of New York City wives as reflective of white culture. I don't think all white people flinched when one New Jersey protagonist expressed the desire to open a chain of car wash/strip clubs. Nor will white people be judged by other white people based on the behavior of a bunch of reality show stars. Black people, of course, are judged by the actions of other random black folks--from Flavor Flav to Marion Barry to Serena Williams to Barack Obama. Our fortunes can rise and fall depending what black person is in the public eye and what they are doing. This is, of course, wrong and unfair. Why then, do black people join in enforcing this unequal standard?

Look, I am not naive. I am, unfortunately, evaluated by mainstream America not just on my own merits, but by perceptions of other black people whom I cannot control. The same is true for all people of color. But I feel strongly that the way to combat this problem is to aggressively challenge the biases of the mainstream, not to fold to injustice by playing behavior cop with my brothers and sisters.

I don't think the Real Housewives of Orange County represent me in any way as a white woman, and it would never occur to me to think so. Likewise, can we allow the Real Housewives of Atlanta to be who they are without the accompanying idea that they "represent" anyone but themselves?

(PS: And what do you think of the show?)

Real Housewives of New York City thread

This thread is for fans of the mindless reality show!

Questions for this round:

*Will Bethenny kick Kelly's ass?

*Should Bethenny kick Kelly's ass? (And won't that be fun?)

*Can Ramona be any more annoying?

*Will Ramona's little Avory be a child-star?

*What do you think of Jill's pseudo-Liberace decor?

*Do you want to smack the Countess upside the head as much as I do?

*What does Simon do for a living?

*Will Alex's boys turn into famous philanthropists or serial killers?

And the bonus round:

*Which one has the most botox?

*Which one is NOT a size zero?

Add your own observations!

Alcohol and reality TV

Left: A picture of my cats, with absolutely no connection to anything I have written below. (I blame Queen Emily and her random cat and panda photos!)

~*~

Sitting here watching mindless televised drivel, such as The Real Housewives of New York City. Once again, I am totally astounded by how much alcohol is consumed during filming. I seem to recall the first modern reality show,* MTV's THE REAL WORLD, plying it's young participants with a lot of booze, then standing back as the fireworks start. The kids run their mouths, oblivious to everything, insulting each other and making horses' asses of themselves. And isn't that what makes reality TV so much fun? One REAL WORLD season even featured a real alcoholic, Ruthie, and pretended it was a public service announcement as she was hospitalized for alcohol poisoning.

I found a 2006 Forbes interview with REAL WORLD co-producer Jonathan Murray, in which he is asked, what's up with all the guzzling? Of course, he plays innocent:

Q: The reality genre has been getting a bad rap for getting cast members liquored up before going on the air. Are you going out of your way to get your cast drunk?

A: I can’t speak for other shows, but we do not provide alcohol to the cast members on our shows. There’s no alcohol in the house when they move in and we never provide it to them while they’re there. All of the alcohol that they consume, they’ve actually gone out and purchased for themselves.

Also, we’ve noticed that drinking is just part of the young people’s experience. After the Hawaii season when Ruthie had her issues with drinking, I went back and looked at her application. On it she said, “I treat alcohol no differently than anyone else at Rutgers.” At that time, I went “Whoa,” and I think that we sort of woke up to the fact that young people were using alcohol in a way that a lot of us hadn’t seen before--and the show just reflects that. But quite honestly, as a producer, excessive alcohol is not great for us because a character is less interesting when they’re drunk. What they do has less meaning. If someone is going to bed with someone, it’s much more interesting if they’re sober doing it, than if it is just a drunken thing.

Uh-huh. Does anyone remember those drunken kids crawling through that bathroom window (just like the Beatles song) to see what the squealing, moaning, intoxicated girls were doing in the shower? Does anyone remember the alcohol-fueled arguments between various house-members of different races, genders, religions, sexual orientations? What about the telegenic, comically entertaining behavior of infamous dickweed Puck, after he'd had a few? Does anyone remember when severe partying precipitated David's aggression towards Tami, resulting in his exile from the house?

All boozy incidents, with accompanying whoops, hollers, yelling, irrational acting-out, and so forth. (Yeah, they don't PROVIDE THEM with alcohol--well, where are they getting the money to buy it, in that case? Nobody on THE REAL WORLD seemed to have a real job.) Obviously, being on TV is nerve-racking, even reality TV, and people feel the need to loosen up. And then reach for the bottle.

And so, today, I watch reruns of Bethenny keeping up a running drunken commentary ("I was a little bit out of control," she admits later) on her biological clock and make an ass of herself on BRAVO. (Isn't she embarrassed now?**) And I wonder, would there be any reality TV without drinking? What does this say about our culture? Truthfully, I don't pretend to know. I can tell you one thing: I haven't had a drink of alcohol since January of 1982, and these shows have very strongly reinforced that decision. There but for the Grace of God! Woooo-hooooo! Let's get on TV and scream, holler and argue like rednecks!

What IS interesting is the cultural fact that these women aren't considered rednecks for acting like rednecks, because they are rich, live in New York City, attend hoity-toity fashion shows and send their kids to the best schools in the world. Same behavior from low-class people? Damn rednecks!

I am now watching the episode where The Countess is upset that she is not addressed properly by the cab driver. In a later show, The Countess helps an unemployed black woman with her job application (as if The Countess has ever seen one before). You can't make this stuff up!

And that's why we get addicted to reality TV.

~*~

*The first reality TV show was AN AMERICAN FAMILY, broadcast on PBS in 1973. At that time (and because of the PBS connection), reality TV was regarded as artsy kin to cinéma-vérité. When it became a staple of mass-market MTV, it lost its considerable highbrow cache.

**I guess she's not embarrassed, since she just signed a lucrative multiple-book deal with Touchstone Fireside.

Being rich means never having to say you're sorry.

----------------
Listening to: Drive-By Truckers - A Blessing and a Curse
via FoxyTunes

Gay-bashing neanderthals on the loose in Long Island

Left: Josie Smith-Malave, from New York Magazine

I'm no gourmet cook, so I can't explain the fact that I am a huge TOP CHEF fan. I was therefore very upset to hear of the following:



Former 'Top Chef' contestant Josie Smith-Malave beaten by anti-gay attackers on Long Island

Sept. 12, 2007, 8:13AM
Associated Press

SEA CLIFF, N.Y. — A former contestant on Bravo's Top Chef was beaten by attackers yelling anti-gay slurs, her lawyer said.

Josie Smith-Malave, who was featured on the second season of the reality show, was among a small group of women who were asked to leave a Sea Cliff bar over Labor Day weekend, lawyer Yetta Kurland said Tuesday.

About 10 young people followed the women and began screaming anti-gay epithets, spitting on them and then beating them, Kurland said.

Smith-Malave, who is in her early 30s, is openly gay, Kurland said.

Nassau County police said they were investigating, but declined to provide details of the incident.

Smith-Malave, a Miami native, is a former sous-chef for Marlow and Sons restaurant in Brooklyn. She has played for the New York Sharks of the Independent Women's Football League.

From the Head-On Radio Network.