Reality television “rots” your brains. Or so that’s what they tell us but I cannot help but watch as women with more wealth than I’ll see in my lifetime spend tens of thousands of dollars on a handbag. I’m talking about Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise, of course.
Since the dawning of time (March of 2006), the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo has put rich women on their own show and it isn’t often for the better. Yet I cannot look away. Part of it stems from watching these shows since I was in high school but my reason for writing this is not because I’ve been sort of watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey for a while. My love for Bravo runs deeper than that.
There are so many versions of The Real Housewives now that I have to watch them all. I had secondary knowledge of The Real Housewives of Atlanta and so I decided that I could go ahead and start the show from the beginning. I am now almost on season 10 but for a while there, I was transported back to 2008 and it was dark times.
And that’s kind of how Bravo gets you. Much like the complaints against the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you’re going to be missing part of the conversation if you don’t watch all of the shows. And I’m not even talking about just The Real Housewives. Remember when everyone was angry at Tom Sandoval but if you didn’t watch Vanderpump Rules you had no idea what was going on?
That makes the obsession that many of us have for Bravo shows not the best thing in the world. We want to know everything and consume so much media that I sometimes feel broken after watching these shows.
The worst and best kind of shows
I don’t like the person that Bravo makes me. Instead of watching television shows that have some kind of consequence or watching a movie I’ve been meaning to get to, I end up just sitting and watching endless hours of Kyle Richards screaming at Dorit Kemsley. And I have not even gotten into the Below Decks show and I am afraid to touch Summer House.
So what do we do about this? Honestly, I don’t think anything can stop the speeding train that is Bravo. And I don’t think that I can just stop watching, I’m in too deep. But I do want to share in this misery with someone so if you’re looking for something to just obsessively watch over and over again, may I suggest starting the franchise from the beginning?
(featured image: Bravo)
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