Reality, with a twist of idealism
I don’t know how you feel about this new concept in television, but “reality shows” are pretty neat. For someone who doesn’t get out much, they can be a real connection to worlds we know nothing about – like beautiful women wanting to date geeks. What a concept?
Last week began a new season for “Beauty and the Geek,” a reality show where nerds and other socially inept men-folk get hitched up with a dozen or so bonnie beauties. And the strangest thing is that these opposites do not repel each other (for the most part). Instead, they bond and become friends. Some even see sparks fly.
Our very own Lakes Region beauty, Tristan Clow of Sebago, is one of the contestants on this season’s show, and here’s hoping she has a good time and learns much from the experience.
Tristan should be complimented for her willingness to be televised in this manner. Reality shows have been going full-force for about five years now and each takes wackiness to a new level. Some are wackier than others, with people eating insects, or risking life and limb on an island where, at any moment, you can be voted off for no apparant reason – all for 15 minutes of fame and the promise of riches. But the Beauty and the Geek show is an interesting take on human psychology and social relations in that it proves that if you give someone a chance, you’ll probably come to like, or maybe even love them.
That message – where worth is based on your character and not on your natural talents, what club you belong to, or good looks – is a welcomed one in a world that seems to be growing less friendly and compassionate every year. We have many examples of people treating their fellow man rudely and badly: Muslims killing “infidels” for selfish gain of a deliriously happy eternity; American big business getting greedier with each passing tax loophole; Self-gratifying youth drooling for their next violence fix, which is only assuaged by their mind-numbing Playstations and X-Boxes. You may think a show like Beauty and the Geek sounds like pure silliness, but the message behind the show is one of love and tolerance, discovered only when you take time to treat someone like a human being and not as an object.
The other thing that should be observed throughout the show is how the geeks handle themselves around the beauties. It’s not just the beauties that have to ignore worldly norms in getting beyond social barriers. The guys, if they’re like other red-blooded American men, have always looked at beautiful women as objects of desire. Key word here is “objects.” Just as it will be fun to watch these beauties get used to the guys’ idiosyncrasies, it’ll be just as interesting to see if these geeks loosen up around these intimidating and gorgeous women. Especially in front of the TV cameras.
So, it’s neat the Lakes Region can claim one of these contestants as their own. Here’s hoping Tristan goes far in the game! But, because of her willingness to open up to a group of people she doesn’t naturally identify with, it sounds like she’s already a winner in our books.
-John Balentine, editor
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