As the arts editor of The Lantern, I feel it is my duty to maintain a certain level of taste when it comes to the arts. I watch films by Kurosawa, own recordings of Bach and read “Waiting for Godot” for my own amusement.
That being said, I plead temporary insanity regarding my behavior Saturday night. I actually watched the first episode of “The Surreal Life.”
For those who may have missed this tragic example of modern society, the premise mimics MTV’s “Real World,” but instead of setting up college kids in large, outrageously expensive homes, this one sets the formerly famous in an outrageously expensive house.
The set-up on the show’s Web site claims the show takes “seven bigger-than-life celebrities” and mixes them together for a few weeks. It also claims the seven houseguests — including Emmanuel Lewis (“Webster”), Gabrielle Carteris (“Beverly Hills 90210”), MC Hammer and even Corey Feldman — were once superstars.
This seems to be an alarming trend in Hollywood — appear in something big and automatically be labeled as a celebrity. Numerous other reality programs have popped up to support this — “Celebrity Boot Camp,” two editions of “Celebrity Boxing” and the most current, “Celebrity Mole.”
Even E! has gotten into the mix with its new dating show “Star Dates,” which, according to the Website, “sets up blind dates between ordinary people and actual celebrities.” Among the “celebrities” slated to appear on the show are Dustin “Screech Powers” Diamond, Kim “Tootie Ramsey” Fields and Gary “Arnold Jackson” Coleman.
This term — celebrity — is thrown around with abandon, using it to label the likes of Corben Bernson, Kato Kaelin and Diamond (is there anything Screech won’t do for a chance at a little more fame?). When did these people become celebrities?
There is a quote that says people used to be on television because they were famous, and now people are famous just for being on television. I’ll admit, every person named so far is still famous, but they are not celebrities anymore. They are merely has-beens now, not worth much more than a cocktail party joke.
In an interview given to a student newspaper in Pennsylvania, Judd Winick, one of the more successful “Real World” alums (he was on the Puck-filled San Francisco season), said the cast members on the show were far from celebrities.
“Celebrities are rich and powerful,” Winick said. He said they “just won the fame lottery.”
During the interview (which is graphically reproduced on his Web site), Winick also tells the story of a former “Real World” cast member who was recognized picking up his unemployment check. “Someone asked him if he was researching a part.”
Besides helping to spark this column, Winick’s tale proves these people don’t have any illusions about who they are and what they mean to American pop culture — they were here, they were famous, they were gone (sometimes to resurface on the “Real World/Road Rules Challenge”).
Maybe the houseguests on “The Surreal Life” need to take the hint from the reality TV “stars” by just vanishing into the collective memory of pop society before they tarnish their glory days any further by posing as celebrities.
Todd LaPlace is a junior in journalism and The Lantern arts editor. He’s actually not too much of an arts snob — he can tell you the cast members of “Battle of the Sexes,” the latest “Real World/Road Rules Challenge.” He can be reached at [email protected].
