The Effects of Flavor of Love

When I watched my first reality show, I was 13 years old and in eighth grade. I have heard about reality shows, but I did not care much about it because I was a pubescent teenager who did not want to watch what everyone else was watching. I remember coming back from a trip to California and turning on the television. Once I turned the TV on, I saw a bunch of revealing women standing in rows with a guy in a Viking hat and a big clock around his neck talking to them. I later learned that it was the show “Flavor of Love.” This caught my attention because it was unlike anything I have ever seen before (on television that is). I was planning on changing the channel, but there was this one incident on the show that really caught my attention.

There were two women, New York and Pumkin, who had not been chosen by Flavor Flav. In the end, Flavor Flav had chosen New York and Pumkin was not happy about it. Pumkin was so outraged, that she was cursing like a sailor and then unexpectedly spit in New York’s face due to the fact that she was not fond of her. It was so shocking that I could have sworn I was watching it in slow motion. I thought it was the most appalling thing that I have ever seen, but it was so funny and addicting that I couldn’t bring myself to change the channel. This was the defining moment of my life where I realized that I loved reality television.

I began to watch all of the episodes and laughed at every single one. In the show, all of the women had sassy attitudes and were willing to fight at any moment in time. Pretty much, they would put up a “bad bitch” front. As ridiculous as this sounds, I bought it. I really enjoyed how these women did not let anything get in their way. Although the physical appearance was somewhat distasteful, I thought that they were empowering in some way. It a weird, cynical kind of angle, the women showed a form of girl power. 

I was so addicted to it that I felt that I needed to have that “bad bitch” type of attitude in order for people to stop messing with me. I was verbally bullied in middle and high school, so I felt that interpreting an attitude similar to the ones portrayed on the show would help me gain some confidence. Guess what, it actually did. I started to curse a lot, talk back, and yell if I disagreed with someone. I started to view this show as my own lifestyle. I eventually learned to stray away from the persona, but I still maintained the sense of “empowerment” that I felt with this attitude.

Are there negative effects to reality television? My bad attitude and talking back would prove yes. On the counterargument, reality television had given me a sense of empowerment and helped me cope with my feelings of a pubescent teen with the struggles that come along with it. So, say what you will about reality television, but without Flavor of Love, I would not be the person that I am today.