WORK OUT! on Bravo
I watched an episode of Bravo’s Work Out online. I purchased it through ITunes. I chose to analyze Episode 204 of season 2. Work Out is a reality TV show based around Jackie, a personal trainer who has her own gym and spa, named Sky Sport & Spa, in the wealthy area of Beverly Hills. She employs a staff to train at her gym, all of whom she considers to have close personal relationships with. The main focus of the show is Jackie’s gym and the business she has with her clients and employees. The show also takes a look into Jackie’s personal life, as well as the lives of her employees.
Jackie happens to be a lesbian, and a number of her employees are also gay and bisexual. This show targets a more mature audience, with an emphasis on a gay audience. However, I feel that most anyone would appreciate this show because of it looks at the work ethic that running a business entails and how to balance a career with your personal life.
There are several feminist concepts within Work Out. The trainers are all very attractive, young people. They wear stylish workout clothes that often reveal their toned and tan bodies. Both the women and the men who train and work at Sky Sport & Spa are essentially obsessed with their bodies. This is shown by the religious workouts and the camera shots of them often looking in the mirrors to examine their bodies. There are various races and ethnicities in the show. Most of the employees seem to get along, with the exception of a few quarrels here and there. The background and lighting for the shots in the show are set behind a beautiful skyline with bright lighting that emphasizes the attractive bodies of the employees, and also highlights the problem areas with the client’s bodies.
I chose to watch the episode that analyzes several issues within the team at Sky. Jackie is known to be a compulsive dater, often dating several women at once and has a hard time defining her feelings about all of them. In this episode, her love life is a source of gossip for her employees, who feel that she is getting a little excessive. Jackie visits a therapist to try to explore her issues. There are other issues of attraction between heterosexual and homosexual individuals. There is also often an overlaying theme of the Alpha Male, which is ironic because Jackie often assumes that role. The representations of roles are often intermixed within all aspects of the show. Someone is always assuming a role that is not stereotypical of them. I particularly like the fact that there are not always defined lines between homosexual and heterosexual. People are accepted for who they are, unless they are out of shape that is!
For most of the episode, I notice how much Mulvey’s “gaze” concept is employed. This is a workout center, with hot employees that are highly sexualized and to some point, objectified. Narcissism plays a role throughout. People, both clients and employees are being looked at and critiqued at all times. They look at themselves and are verbally critiqued by others in the show (it is their job after all). I do like, however, that this episode and whole season for that matter is showing a woman who is in charge of her life. Yes she is beautiful and strong (both physically and mentally!) and she hope to make others just as beautiful and strong as she is, inside and out. She is as real as real can be, and those she has been called (jokingly) "that exercise obsessed hottie lesbian!" she still has problems and issues as a successful and accomplished business woman.