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Reality television is believed to have a main focus of capturing the minds of individuals and steering the ethics, behaviors, aspirations, and routines of ordinary people”(Ouellette & Hay, 2). Reality is able to accomplish this through a variety of tactics; one method is the relatedness of the characters to the viewers. The individuals on reality shows are strategically chosen to fit the criteria of viewer’s personalities. Also, women contestants are often representative of the stereotypical female: tiny frame, fit body, and large breasts. If a woman does not fit these standards, she is eliminated within the first few episodes. As a result, the viewers are drawn to different aspects of the character profiles and develop the
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“Flavor of Love” stars William Drayton, better known as Flavor Flav, a popular rap star from the group “Public Enemy.” His reality show, however, focuses on finding “true love.” The past three seasons were all filmed at a house in California that must have been a private location because it was on a hill without
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Flavor Flav is probably affluent after being the star of several reality shows and a onetime popular rapper, he is not the picturesque “TV Prince…[with a] firm ass,” but the contestants on his show certainly fulfill the typical stereotype of women (Pozner 99). The majority of the women on all the seasons of “Flavor of Love” were thin and curvy. By having such an abundant amount of girls (25) competing for the love of Flav, it reinforces that women are looked upon for their beauty and not
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The twist that occurs on “Flavor of Love” when compared to other dating shows is the fact that besides Flavor Flav being black, most of the women are also black. Therefore, the black women are never eliminated completely, a statistic that usually occurs on other reality shows because black women are usually tokenized and kicked off the show quickly (Ponzer 98). Regardless of race, many of the women still personify the archetypes of women from the standard reality show. For instance, “Seezinz,” a woman who was in the final three elimination, often stated she was not there to make friends and nonverbally declared herself to be the “Antagonizer.” The woman Flavor Flav chose to date at the end of season three personified the “Weeper” for a short time, who wondered what she did wrong because she was eliminated about four episodes before the finale and kept repeating “why Flav?” Due to her persistence that she felt as if she had a strong connection, her role actually changed and was brought back onto the show, and won the chance to “date” the man they were competing for from the start of the show.
Another factor that was odd when compared to other dating shows was that
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apart, did not want to date the winner of his reality show. Flavor Flav said he realized he had love in front of him the entire time he was participating in his reality show. However, he was not referring to the love on his show, but his child’s mother at home. Therefore, on the reality show, he dumbed Thing 2 and proposed to Liz, his baby's mother. This situation is also unique because Flav’s “true” love was not the same skin color as himself; rather she was a white, large woman. Her physique is completely opposite of the contestants on his reality show. They can be considered “perfect 10’s” because they were pretty, passive, and intellectually unthreatening (Pozner 98).”
The bizarre circumstances at the end of the reunion show became further unraveled in an interview conducted by Vh1, revealing Flav’s truthful feelings regarding season 3 of his show. Flav was asked when the approximate time period was that he decided that he did not want to continue with the reality show. He responded, “I kinda realized it around Flavor of Love 2, but we had to get past Flavor of Love 3. You know what I’m sayin’ and the whole 9? (VH1 2008).” Basically, in so many words, he is admitting that he was not seeking “love” in season 3 and could not break his contract. These aspects of the interview depict the contestants as being naive and foolish, especially the winner, Thing 2. Regardless if she was aware that this was the ultimate outcome, she still seemed humiliated. Basically, the contestants and viewers wasted time participating or watching the program. Many do not feel sorry for the contestants because no one forces these women to appear on reality television (Pozner, 99). However, many women appear on these shows because of what they have watched as a prior viewer. They are drawn to the normative features of the characters in prior seasons and develop a sense of relatedness toward the stereotypical characters. The reality show then depicts “everyday” women as finding true love on television. Since these viewers can relate to the show’s characters, they feel they can also find love, but in reality are being fed an unrealistic impression of the concepts of love.
Overall, “Flavor of Love” seems to follow a pretty typical plot carried out with love and reality television. These individuals are placed a mansion rented by the broadcasting company and filled with characters that are specifically placed together to fit certain roles or cause drama. The characters also fit stereotypical roles based on appearance, using their sexuality to attempt to gain power.
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Works Cited
"ADDICTED TO REALITY TV Long Sleeve Mock T-Shirt." This Next. 29 May 2008
Jebbicz. "Flavor Flav Proposes on Reunion Show, But Not to Thing 2!" Gravy and Biscuits. 27 May 2008. 29 May 2008
Natiuk, David. "Reality TV." Things I Find Funny. 2 May 2008. 29 May 2008
Ouellette, Laurie, and James Hay. Better Living Through Reality TV. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008.
Pozner, Jennifer L. "The Unreal World." (2004): 96-99.
"The Celebreality Interview - Flavor Flav." VH1. 26 May 2008. 27 May 2008
"Thing 2/Flavor Flav." Flavor of Love World. 2008. 29 May 2008
Whitehead, Anna. "Girls, Sexuality, & Popular Culture." The Feminist News Journal (2002).