The UK is subject to a lot of awful reality TV shows, but bar
Channel 5's dismal attempt to bring some real life lesbians to the
small screen with their documentary Candy Bar Girls, not a lot of
them can safely say that they accurately reflect lesbian life in
any way, shape or form. Neither can The Real L Word, but here it
is, back for a third season on America's Showtime! And seeing as it
is the only reality TV show focusing exclusively on lesbian life,
like a moth to a flame I will repeatedly subject myself to its
myriad of pleasures whilst angrily passing judgement on others'
business that is of no real concern to me.
The general consensus of the last two seasons was that it was
not representative of the vast majority of girls who like girls,
there was a disappointing number of ethnic minorities involved and
the one black couple that were on the show were made out to be
completely out of their minds. (The fate of Sadjah and Chanel will
forever remain a mystery, as they did not join the Season 3
cast.)
Added to this was the frank ridiculousness of the vast majority
of the situations, which did evoke a fair number of facepalms (as
in getting your male best friend to have sex with his girlfriend in
another room and then when he's uh, aroused, getting him to run and
put his member into a plaster cast mould in order to create a
hollow dispenser for your friends who are trying to have a baby but
aren't too keen on the clinicalness of insertion at the doctors'
surgery - it's the way that we live and love!)
But whilst this show is undoubtedly trashy, the question with a
show regarding ladies of this disposition is whether or not this
representation is actually damaging to LGBT people, or if it's just
damaging to the brain capacity of those interested in watching any
show of this ilk, be it focused on irritatingly wealthy people,
irritatingly orange people, or irritating lesbians.
And to the credit of Season 3, the premiere was not as bad as
its predecessors. The show and indeed the regular characters seem
to have matured, and the relationships within the programme are
more varied and seem a bit healthier than previous series where it
seemed to turn into a competition as to how many girls Whitney
could make cry in an hour.
This season follows Kaci and Cory on their journey through
pregnancy, Whitney as she tries her hand at monogamy and Romi, who
is dating a man. The frontwoman for all girl, all gay punk rock
band Hunter Valentine also has a main part in the show so if you're
a Hunter Valentine fan then you might feel obliged to tune in this
time around. Also included in the new line up is a New York born
and bred high-end jewellery designer who feels that LA is petty and
stupid so is going to move there with her best friend and have sex
with her, just for funsies, which is totally not stupid.
In any case, your ardent shrieking at your television that
despite the stereotypes notthat manygirls ask their girlfriends to
marry them after two weeks will be in vain. We shall all have to
just accept that lesbian reality TV shows will be held to the same
standards as any other reality TV show, and that standard is pretty
outlandish. I like to think of it as a grim step towards
equality.
To visit
the Real L Word's web page click here
