Reality TV, and the mentality that surrounds it.
I'm watching Dancing With The Stars (blow me; it's entertaining, and I find the dancing to be impressive). We're down to five celebrities: James Van Der Beek (actor), Ally Brooke (from the band "Fifth Harmony"), Lauren Alaina (country singer), Kel Mitchell (actor/comedian), and Hannah Brown (from the Batchelor).
So, first off, the first four have discernable, marketable talents. All are noted in their field. The last? Uh, not sure what the talent is. Lauren Alaina broke four ribs and was in serious pain. She's still dancing. Didn't say a word about it (Tom Bergeron, America's Host, mentioned it). James Van Der Beek - shockingly, and heart-breakingly - announced that two nights before that his wife had a mis-carriage and lost their child. He's still dancing. The entire audience - including the judges and the announcers (and me) - was crying the entire time, but he said that he talked with his wife, and part of her healing was that he finish what he started without drama, without fanfare.
That episode was a "Judge's Choice", where one of the judges goes to each contestant and asks them to redo a previous dance. One of the judges (Carrie Ann Inaba) went to Hannah Brown and asked her to redo a dance for reasons x, y, z. Brown burst into tears, saying "don't touch me" when Inaba went for a hug, and saying reality TV nonsense like "I don't find my confidence with you" (what does that even mean?). Then during the post-dance interviews she's all drama queen with "I was going through some issues and some of the things you said were triggering for me" but "it's really about the journey for me" and demanding a redo on the hug from the judge... and puked into my sneakers.
At the end of the episode, James and Ally found themselves in the bottom two, at which point the judges decide who to keep and who to eliminate. Ally did NOT belong there; she had the highest judges scores of the night, including two perfect dances. They rightfully kept Ally, and when the announcement was made, Ally was beside herself, crying, saying "no no, please. Keep James" and offering to James to withdraw so he could stay (it sounds really hokie, but it was very sincere, if you saw it). And he hugged her and said something to the effect of you earned it, you deserve it, let me go home to my wife.
And I'm just... no talking about being "triggered", no talking about the "journey"... he just manned up, did what he was supposed to do to the best of his ability, accepted his consequences and went back, head held high, to be with his family. I've rarely been more impressed with a celeb like that, and contrast with Hannah Brown, who, boo-hoo, had her feelings hurt because the judges weren't fawning over her telling her how great she is like the vacuous douchebags on the Bachelor. Every word out of her mouth is some shallow reality TV trope about "finding herself" and "being authentic" (the irony is deafening), and it's just... so ridiculous (or, well, mildly irritating).
Topic: Things that I find mildly irritating v.2 (Read 309911 times)
