In politics we often hear from conservatives about something called \class warfare,"" which is when a liberal politician proposes something for the relative benefit of those at the bottom of the economic spectrum. Apparently, redistributing the tax burden to the bottom is just fine by them, but complaining about it makes one a bitter Marxist. However, anybody who thinks class warfare is dead hasn't been watching enough television lately. A peek at any reality show can tell you just how alive it is when sold properly.
Reality shows started with ""The Real World,"" a project begun at MTV when they wanted to do a soap opera but couldn't afford writers. The premise of normal people living together had its pluses, but eventually got really old. A season of that show only does well if the city it's taking place in has really good architecture. Then we ended up with ""The Bachelor"" and its companion piece, ""The Bachelorette,"" and ""American Idol,"" which all have people either living in luxury or trying to become rich and famous. Fox, that cultural wasteland, then brought us ""Joe Millionaire,"" which summed up the matter in a very clear fashion: rich people are whores, and we all want to be rich.
Tuesday night saw the premiere of the latest disaster to hit television, ""The Simple Life."" Following the spread of a video tape of her having sex, which in retrospect is one of the best public-relations stunts for a TV show yet, we get to see Paris Hilton and her fellow dimwitted heiress friend Nicole Richie attempt to live life as simple farmers.
The first episode is full of wonderful moments where we see Hilton attempt to drive a stick-shift, go grocery shopping and ask questions like ""What's 'generic' mean?"" and ""What's a Wal-Mart?"" The audience is meant to take some joy at the odd looks they keep getting from their hosts when asking these questions or panicking that there's only one bathroom. The farmers clearly have one question in the back of their minds: How do I have less money than these morons?
The obvious answer is that the stars of the show inherited their money. They never had to work a day in their lives or earn any money, only figure out more and more ways to spend it. They closest they have to any emotional moment is when they discuss with each other whether they should have a threesome with a farmboy.
The show lets us in on something we all like to hear: that we're smarter than people who might think themselves our betters. Their hosts are a hardworking family who can tell you how to cook, clean, drive and manage money. The glamorous stars are among the most vacuous people you'll ever see, with their plastic-looking faces, hair, clothes and personalities. Like all the new reality shows, ""The Simple Life"" isn't about watching normal people live their lives but instead watching extraordinary people make complete and utter fools of themselves.
This all begs a very important question. If the stars of our popular entertainment are marketed on the basis of being idiots, what does that mean of a culture that keeps watching? Does it represent some kind of egalitarian instinct, that we all want to see the rich suffer like we do? Does it just mean we like watching some good old-fashioned buffoonery? Or do we on some level feel sorry for what them; knowing what materialistic fools these people are, do we still want to be like them?
Reality shows like ""The Simple Life"" or ""Newlyweds"" show that, for better or for worse, Americans retain a strong sense of class consciousness. We at once despise, disdain and deify the rich and famous, all for the same reasons. We wish we could have so carefree a life that we could spend tens of thousands of dollars on clothes in one day, but since we can't, we're happy enough to ridicule those who can for being spoiled. Whatever the base motivation for people watching this stuff is, I know I'll be tuning in next week to see them try to deal with their car breaking down. Now that should be funny.
