How Can't You Love New York?!?!
The other night I watched I Love New York episode 6: Nip/Suck on VH1 around nine pm on Thursday night. The
creators of the show, Michelle Brando and Mark Cronin, do an unbelievable job of making this absolutely ridiculous show simply irresistible. The film that airs on VH1, draws in an audience from upper teens to people in their young thirties. This station, that used to be primarily music driven, has now dipped into the reality world. In this specific episode, they went to the set of Nip/Tuck, giving the FX network some publicity; as if to tell their viewers that Nip/Tuck will be just as enjoyable. They plug other VH1 shows during commercials, and focus on a life style that they're trying to project. Being well know for their "Fabulous Life of: ___" they are trying to sell a life style that is rich and glamorous. One of the "contestants," ‘Tailor Made’, gave New York a eight hundred dollar dress, which she in turn, picks him first (to not be eliminated) because he "was trying the hardest for her love." She openly admits that she will take the material things over actual love.
New York also spends more time talking about the sexual appeal of the men, then their actual personality. A contestant, ‘Punk,’ in a previous episode talked about how he went to Harvard Law; New York found that dull conversation. When she had a date with ‘Budda’ she was so into their date and could not stop talking about how physically attracted she was to him. He is the perfect man in her eyes: tall, muscular, powerful and black. New York sets up this biased of what a man should be. She even mentions that ‘Budda’ is the only person she feels so physically attracted to. Amidst her sexual needs and interest, she herself is tempting the men.
I don’t think I’ve seen one episode where her breasts were not half way out of her shirt/dress. Neither, has she kept her bra un-visible for most of her dates. New York is gladly wishing the men to lust for her, as is the purpose of the show. Between the men on the show, and the viewers, she invites us to gaze upon her best assets, by showing them though skimpy clothing. Although she is sometimes withheld by the producers, New York acts upon her own agency. She is in control of the men, what they do, how they act, how they feel about her etc.
The “traditional� role of the man choosing the woman is reversed. Explosions of pink decoration in every room in the house are to remind you this is a show about love (supposedly). They are all playing the role of what society calls what a relationship should be, and what a man should be. The muscleier the men are, the more she likes them, and the thought of anything but a male female relationship is unheard of on reality TV shows. Heteronormativity is largely at play; the men follow their gender performances as they know them. The MTV show, Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, dabbles in the idea of bisexuality, but to my knowledge, there has been few to no shows that go beyond that socially acceptable way we think of relationships.
I Love New York is not the first to be the focus of a reality TV dating show, she is a good representation. Although very characterized, she represents “a social ambiance that reverses celebrities not for their accomplishments but simply because they appear on television, the ‘ideal standard’ is based on the extent to which her behavior is legitimated,� (Mendible 336) as she has no other talents then being wild and crazy. I Love New York attempts to sell the idea of love, but we all know that isn’t anyone’s reason for watching the show. New York appeals to young men to look at her, and young women who want to be her. She sells sex, and the character that she plays to bring in viewers. It falls into the stereotype of all reality TV shows, and is a good definition of what one is. But for some reason, although it’s the most mind numbing thing you can watch, you just can’t turn it off!
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