Food For Thought - 
by B-side
Two weeks into Real World: Key West, and the season is still looking surprisingly strong. For a moment, I thought everything might just fall apart as this latest episode plunged us into a silly argument about bar-hopping, but oddly enough, even that conflict turned out to be curiously engaging. It wasn't just drunk people fighting for the sake of the camera. It was drunk people trying to grapple with new values, new experiences, and new parameters. Kind of. Don't get me wrong -- it was still a seriously dumb spat, but at least there was a sense of learning and contemplation, unlike with last season's endless parade of Dizzy Rooster dramas.
Of course, this episode wasn't just about one crazy night in Key West. It was about one crazy girl in Key West too: Paula! Actually, I'm not gonna say she's crazy because that's a little cruel, even by my standards. I will, however, say that she's seriously f'ed up, and her battle with anorexia -- as well as a handful of other deep issues -- has become the transfixing signature of this season already. I feel torn when I watch her. On the one hand, I feel like her plight is probably hard enough on its own. Does she really need to be stuck in this high-stress, chaotic environment? And isn't there something mildly exploitative about the whole thing? But then again, there's also something fascinating about Paula, and the idealist in me thinks that this could somehow help thousands of girls across the country. At the end of the day though, it's good television, and that's really what it's all about, people. Right? (Why do I feel like a jerk for saying that?)
This week's episode began with the whole gang rising and shining and heading off to breakfast. Well, almost the whole group. Paula was still asleep on the couch, still recovering the previous night's emotional meltdown / scary hyperventilation. Everyone thought it would probably be best to let her sleep it off, so they just let her be. Besides, this way everyone could talk about her behind her back.
We then cut to a crab walking along the sidewalk -- symbolic of something I suppose, not sure what -- and then we found our gang of six marching down the street, looking for a good breakfast joint. A kindly old man who may or may not have been completely out of his mind invited the kids in for breakfast, but they just smiled politely and moved on. They ultimately wound up at a place called "Blue Heaven," which probably could be named "Empty Heaven" -- not a lot of patrons. Still, the roommies didn't mind, and so they sat down for their meal and commenced the gossip.
"You ever meet somebody who says that they're deeply, deeply saddened by something?" Svetlana asked, in regards to Paula.
"I'm deeply saddened by your feigned interest in this," Tyler replied in the unnecessarily instigative manner we all so predicted last week. He then went on to question Svetlana's motives, saying, "Are you really hurting about this?" She didn't know quite what to say. There was a combination of guilt, shock, and confusion on her face, and even though Tyler had called her out, Svetlana kept to her line, and insisted that she really did care. "I'm just joking around you," Tyler suddenly said, serving up the morning's lamest retreat. True, Svetlana probably didn't truly care about Paula at the same level as, say, her parents or best friends. But it sounded like she cared enough. It was a bit rude for Tyler to attack her so quickly. But then again, this is The Real World. We don't tune in for the civil behavior.
Well, Svetlana babbled on about Paula, surmising that her problems most likely stemmed from her dad or the men in her life. "Oh my god! You don't know shit!" Tyler rebuked, again for no real reason -- except, of course, to brew up drama and conflict. Luckily, none of the roommates gave in, and nothing really became of it.
Meanwhile, back at the house, Paula had woken up and was now red-faced with embarrassment over her behavior the night before. "I am twenty-four years old, and I'm the only one who couldn't keep it together," she said. And so, what else is a girl to do but to hop into a kayak and (to paraphrase Enya) row away, row away, row away. Paula eventually returned from her little excursion and had a heart to heart with Jose, saying "I feel like everybody has already judged and labeled me as girl with issues." Now why would they say that? Just because you're a girl with issues? That's like calling a black girl, "a black girl." People are just ridiculous.
Anyway, Paula's biggest fear was that people would treat her differently and walk on eggshells around her. She didn't want everyone to worry that she was going to freak out every time they went out drinking. You know, like the first time they went out... and the second time... okay, every time they've gone out.
Later, we found Tyler and Zach chillin' out on the porch during some afternoon showers. They were having a conversation that amazingly wasn't about Paula. It was about the whole house. You see, after Zach had announced that he hadn't eaten that day, Tyler revealed that he was concerned about everyone's eating habits. At this point, I was hoping that Svetlana would appear out of nowhere and ask, "Are you concerned? Are you REALLY concerned?"
Turns out that Tyler's concern was not necessarily his roommate's health, but more his own psychological well-being. He explained that in the gay community, image is so strongly emphasized that if he's around people who are constantly dieting or working out, he was afraid that he might get caught up in it. I would be more concerned for the ano girl in the house, but that's just me.
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