The Girls Next Door
The reality show I watched was The Girls Next Door. I saw The Girls Next Door on E! at 7:00 PM on a Sunday night. The show was developed by Kevin Burns. The target audience is younger (teenage-college age) girls/women. The commercials tended to be for movies coming out on DVD, new movie trailers, fashion lines such as Dolce and Gabbana, and other shows that aired on E!
The overall topic of The Girls Next Door is to show the lives of Hugh Hefner’s three girlfriends, Holly, Bridget, and Kendra. One of the interesting aspects of the show is that though the three women have a very unique relationship status they and Hugh Hefner go about their lives like it is a completely normal situation. The episode I watched, My Bare Lady, focused on Holly, Bridget, and Kendra’s career aspirations. This episode had very little interaction between the three women as each was working on their individual goals— Holly to become a Playboy pictorial editor, Bridget to become a television host and anchor woman, and Kendra to invest in a condo that she will rent out.
For the most part the show has a very light feel to it. The music is generally upbeat “happy� music that does not allow viewers to take any of the women seriously. Occasionally there are moments with more dramatic music (like the dun dun dun… stuff). However, this over-the-top dramatic music is strategically placed during moments that are really not that dramatic—making it seem like the issues that Holly, Bridget, and Kendra care about are not really that important. An example of this is when Holly was concerned about the color of the paint being used in a photo shoot and they cut to a shot of the painted stairs with high pitched scream and scary music added to make it seem like the issue of the paint color was being over-stressed. Both the upbeat and the dramatic music are used for comic effect. One of the things I enjoy about the show is the clever editing. The editors often will use sound effects to make it seem like things are happening that are not. One instance of this is when Bridget leaves the room carrying a big tray of cupcakes. The editors added in the sound of a metal tray hitting the floor to make it sound like she dropped it even though she did not.
The article “The Normalization of Heterogendered Relations in The Bachelor� states that, “heterogender refers to the asymmetrical stratification of the sexes, privileging men and exploiting women.� This is also true in The Girls Next Door. Hugh Hefner is an eighty-one year-old man who is dating three attractive, and much younger, women—Holly (27), Bridget (34), Kendra (22). Hefner often refers to the trio as “the girls.� This might be somewhat demeaning to them, but they do often refer to themselves as girls as well, so I have to assume they don’t mind it. He has a lot of power in this relationship because, in my opinion, it seem like all three women feel like they are very privileged to be “Hef’s� girlfriend even if they have to share him. The same article quotes the producer of The Bachelor. When asked about the qualifications for the casting of the women on the show he states, “most importantly, they have to look good in the hot tub.� This is apparently one of Hugh Hefner’s major criteria as well. All three women have the stereotypical blonde "Barbie Doll" look. When Kendra is signing the paperwork for her condo she says in a personal interview, “this is my second major investment, my first being my boobs… my boobs bought my condo…thank you boobs!� She is totally aware that her physical image has gotten her where she is today.