Note: I actually wrote this like two weeks ago, but due to internet problems had trouble posting it. Enjoy.
Ok, so I watched THE SIMPLE LIFE just now. I saw the first episode, and I just watched one where they are milking cows, and I must admit that I found it f-ing hilarious. I don't watch much television (it seems that people have to say that, so as not to appear lame), but I flipped this on because I thought 24 was coming on, but it's not (some lame american idol xmas thing instead).
Anyway, I don't know what it is about it. It is edited in that choppy Fox reality-show manner, with silly sound effects, and no real sense of continuity or context ("Hey, I thought you don't watch much tv!"), but something about it mesmerizes me. I think it may be that I can't identify with ANYONE in that show. I live in a medium-to-large sized city (1 million people + 3million or so in the 'burbs), and I don't make much money, but I do have skills, and could make money, if pressed to do so. Therefore, I can't relate to Paris Hilton and Nickie(sp?) Ritchie, who are rich beyond belief and have never worked, nor can I relate to the people who kill their own food and have never flown.
What a perfect formula for middle america to watch poor people and rich people and laugh at both. Or laugh at ourselves and wonder which of the two we more resemble. There are two different sorts of naivete at work here, and I am stuck in the middle, forced to define myself against these two extremes. I like it.
