Well, this is going to be fun. Just in time for the Holidays, Bunim/Murray served up a nice lump of charcoal with it's latest installment of The Real World. Yes, the show that has made vomit and drunken hookups a welcomed motif for cable television decided to cram cancer, civil rights, eating disorders, and gay issues into one episode. In other words, it was HILARious!
You would think the mere mention of cancer would warrant an A-story placement on The Real World, but then again, this IS Bunim/Murray, the same production outfit that shoved the tragic death of Alton's brother into a rock-climbing montage during the Las Vegas season. As a result, the show first focused on easy-going Karamo. And by "easy-going," I mean he's still currently holding a grudge against his blanket for falling off in the middle of the night.
When last we saw Karamo - literally - he was swooning in the arms of Dorian, the dreamy personal trainer from Philly. A storybook romance, right? Well, not anymore. Karamo informed us that "Dorian's noticed I have some distrust issues." You see, Karamo has a hard time distrusting people. He trusts so damn easily! Oh, wait, he probably meant TRUST issues, which would make sense since he's managed to push away everyone who's tried to be close with him. He elaborated by saying "I need umph." Was that code for butt sex? Actually, not necessarily. You see, Dorian likes 80s R&B, but Karamo likes Hip Hop. OF COURSE! Well, I never met an Anita Baker fan that mixed well with a G-Unit junky. Maybe these guys should just break up. I mean, 80s R&B??? Psssh. Well, I'm glad that Karamo found a legitimate reason to end this relationship.
Over in Sarah World, life was for once not revolving around her implants, her sex life, or even her... sex life again. No, Sarah actually had serious, non-snarky issues to deal with, mainly her mother's cancer. Of course Sarah has never been one to shy away from broadcasting all the traumas of her life, and as she sat down with some people to generate sympathy, I couldn't help wondering which card she would play. Would it be the rape card? The cancer card? Neither! If you answered "Eating disorder", you are correct! Sarah managed to use discussion of her mother's illness as a springboard for her own demons, mainly bulimea. In an odd pairing that surely did not suit the heavy issues at hand, Sarah explained to a clearly drunken MJ that when her mother came down with cancer, she developed an eating disorder. MJ's response: "So, do you wanna makeout?"
Actually, MJ didn't say that, but he could not have appeared more disconnected than if he had taped a pillow around his head (although then he would have suffocated and died, but I suppose that supports my analogy). As Sarah described how her mother was initially given 5 to 10 years to live, you could see MJ trying to piece together something thoughtful to say: "So... are we coming up to year ten? Is that what I'm hearing? Did she beat the spread? What's the over/under?"
But as Fran Drescher so poetically put it, cancer schmancer. Let's go back to Karamo and his Made For TV crisis. To help him deal with his Hip Hop vs. 80s dilemma, special guest star Brie - aka Karamo's ex-girlfriend of two years - descended on Philadelphia for her reality debut. Busty and soft-spoken, Brie dared to ask Karamo such an unrealistic question, I'm not sure why he didn't just ship her back to wherever she came from. Brie: "Does it really matter? It's just music." What is she THINKING?? Someone who likes hip hop can't associate with an 80s pansy! Stick to your kind, woman! Karamo's response was much more polite than mine though: "What if music is a big part of your life?" That is true. For as long as we've known Karamo, we've only thought of one thing: music music music. The way he sings or freestyles or expresses his joy for music has been astonishing. Granted, we've never actually SEEN any of that, but that's our problem now, isn't it?
Thankfully, Brie never dropped the bombshell that many rap songs actually sample from 80s hits, even R&B. Had Karamo realized that he had been listening to 80s R&B all along, I don't know what would have happened, but I'm sure it would be loud and angry and probably MJ's fault.
« Yaya Is Intelligent - in a Dumb Sort of Way | Main | Wanna Get to Know You »
Comments (9)
Someone wise once stated, "If you wan't to know your (own) charactor, take a good look @ the friends you keep." Has any "guest star" of these realty numb-nuts come off like you would want to be around em? The love of Langdon's life who visited him and treated him worse than an ugly stepchild...Shivonda's "telephone bi-polar express"...Dorian..etcetera
1 of 9 | Posted by mick | Posted on December 9, 2004 8:00 PM
Well, you gotta hand it to B/M productions. I'm sure whoever makes the final call thought they would be really ground-breaking and stereotype-destroying by featuring a gay black man on the cast. Sure, they had Pedro's boyfriend back in San Fran, but Karamo is tough-looking and angry! You can't beat having a tough, angry, gay black man!
Yes, Karamo would show viewers that gay folks come in all shapes, sizes, and levels of hatred for white people. Surely, Karamo wouldn't bore everyone with the standard Real World Gay Person hissy fits, moodiness and "Dramaaaa!"
Oh wait, never mind...
2 of 9 | Posted by flush it all away | Posted on December 9, 2004 8:41 PM
Finally, back to the real star of the show...Karamo. He's sooo melodramatic that I can envision him in an off Broadway production in two years rapping to the 80's hits of Kool and The Gang.
Ahh the experience of coming out. Rather than be passive aggressive to Dorian he should just say "I want to bang half the male population of Philadelphia before this show is over."
3 of 9 | Posted by America's Next Top Fan | Posted on December 10, 2004 11:23 AM
Karamo is so confused he probably doesn't know what he is doing. All he had to say was that he wanted to be free in Philly and sleep with many different men.
He blamed everything on Dorian being,"too gay" but is always going out with Willie. LOL Then the whole hip hop vs 80's R&B was hilarious. What did that have to do with anything? ROTF!!
Karamo claims he doesn't want to look like the angry black man, but he sure is embracing the stereotype quite well. I don't know about him. At first I liked him, but I am slowing starting to recognize that he is a drama queen. LOL
4 of 9 | Posted by geovanni | Posted on December 11, 2004 9:54 PM
That was the shadiest sh*t i have ever seen with Karamo telling the poor Dorian guy that we was sick and then as soon as Dorian left, Karamo goes to a club! Wow, that just goes to show that even when men are gay, they have just as many a-hole tendencies as straight men. Scary. I love how Karamo said something like he dated men hoping not to deal with same whiny/needy emotianal baggage that most women have, and there we had poor Dorian acting like a typical female trying to decode her man's double-talk. Man, that was just classic!
Anyway, anybody know what the RR replacement is for three weeks? The announcer said RR would return in three weeks.
5 of 9 | Posted by joslyn | Posted on December 11, 2004 9:56 PM
I am Just Wondering why every new season of the Real World the Token Black member(s) Always seem to represent the Stereotype of the Angry, Chip on my shoulder or Militant Black American looking for any comment or incident to prove just how racist everyone "Else" is? I am not the Only one I Know who feels this is how the black cast members are cast. I am sick of it and Karamo is the worst ever representing a person of low character of any color. Who wants to understand this guy who is a True Hypocrite.
6 of 9 | Posted by TOM | Posted on December 12, 2004 12:45 AM
Jacquese was an exception to the rule. And as much as I hate to say it, Adam from RW Paris was fairly un-militant. And Alton from Vegas too. But Stephen from Seattle, David from New Orleans, and occasionally Theo from Chicago - yeah, they LOVE the stereotype!
7 of 9 | Posted by B-Side | Posted on December 12, 2004 4:14 AM
Yes, please let's not even mention Adam. He probably would be insulted like Tiger Woods if someone called him black. I loved Jacquese, but be real, where did all that "nice-guy educated, black man" stuff get him? Can anyone say. "zero camera time"? And when you really look closely, Jacquese and Adam and Alton also had suppresed rage over father issues, belonging,murdered family members etc. They just displayed their rage and frustration in other ways-i.e.- crying, being the clown, drinking, trying to bag mad females, etc. The fact is many black men are angry and frustrated and feel stifled and discriminated against--and rightfully so. Didn't Karamo have a right to be angry when for the twentieth time he was "profiled" and searched and stopped by the police for no reason? Didn't Steven have a right to be angry when Irene constantly made it her business to push his buttons? Didn't David have a right to be angry when he got kicked out of the house because everyone saw him as a "danger", even when the moments before everyone was laughing and screaming and having a great time? At least he left peacefully; I think the way Puck acted when he got kicked out was ten times worse, but no one mentions what a "scary, angry stereotype" he is. I think the real question is: When will we as viewers learn to respect and try to understand and address the source of the black man's rage/chip/attitude, instead of invalidating it saying they are "tired" of witnessing it?
8 of 9 | Posted by joslyn | Posted on December 13, 2004 2:46 PM
Great point joslyn.
9 of 9 | Posted by America's Next Top Fan | Posted on December 14, 2004 11:47 AM