I've met Jody, but...

I think it's better to feel sorry for someone than to assume they're a b*tch just cuz they're rich or female or whatever. I think that term is applied wayyy too liberally to women, and I've had it applied to me just for displeasing people and not doing what they want (e.g. not agreeing with them or not wanting to go out with them.)

If it's scripted, then someone ought to tell Jody, because she's going beyond the call of duty and continuing on bashing Mary on twitter. And I don't think anyone in their right mind would agree to look so badly on TV if they didn't actually feel that way.

If someone wants to represent themselves as being a bully, whether planned or not, I think it's fair to judge them. Either way, they're a creep and they're setting a bad example for their daughters and the young girls watching the show.

As for the amount that's fake, I think the group meetings are engineered and they force the women to be together at these events. The restaurants are probably picked by the producing company because I think they need permission from the owners to set up their cams there. The talking head sections are obviously prompted with questions and then inserted with editing. But I don't think the lines are scripted.

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I'd really like to see your interaction with Mary on facebook. Could you link me to it, please?


The majority of the show is fake. The meetings between the women are planned and interactions & conflicts encouraged. For some odd reason though, it seems Slice/Lark Productions didn't put too much effort into this season in comparison to the first. This season doesn't have much of a plot and most of the women's behavior seems to be all over the place with no real explanation (it's to the point that nothing aired on television makes sense). But it's more reason why the Vancouver Housewives shouldn't be taken seriously and why I don't feel badly for anyone signing up to be on the show.

Basically the show is based on real people (this is ALL reality shows), its not scripted however it is micro-managed. So for example if 2 people have had a falling out the show asks one of the people involved in the arguement where she wants to film on say Monday, then the producers go to the other person involved in the arguement and tell them they want to film them at the same place same time, hence they make sure an arguement will go down and film the whole thing. Most of what you see is very much exagerated and relationships i.e new boyfriends or dates are often set up to add some entertainment value. The more drama a reality show has the more people will watch. In reality most of the people we see on the show would probably never hang out as the show is basically a job to them. Their being paid to entertain. It's likely the majority of the housewives are b itches in real life you just don't know. But never take the show too seriously or get too invested in the characters where by you would have a go at one of the housewives if you saw them...even though its very easily done! It's micro-managed, manipulated, exagerated reality :) best way to describe it. I think the only REAL reality show I have ever watched was Betheny Frankels spin off show because it literally followed her in her day to day life through her therapy sessions where she opened up about personal stuff, and just everyday normal stuff. I really enjoyed that, she was basically herself the whole time.

<3Every great dream begins with a dreamer<3

None of the women on this show appeal to me in the least. They all strike me as narcissists and the show itself is, to me, another example if the culture of narcissism that Dr Drew Pinsky's book, The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism Is Endangering Our Families--and How to Save Them, details.

I've been doing a media studies class and got cornered into writing my paper on RHOV. I thought I'd add something to the debate about whether the show is scripted. While not every word or even most of the words these women say is scripted in the sense of a writer setting down what they are too say, the show and all reality tv is shaped into a story by editors.

This clip from a UK show that keeps a critical eye on tv explains how advances in editing have made reality tv possible and how easily manipulated it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBwepkVurCI

Also, a small example from the show (as pointed out on Twitter by a fan). In the last show when Ioulia is supposedly making light of Amanda mistakenly havinv a drink of alcohol, Ioulia stands up to leave and Ronnie calls her a bitch. If you pay attention to the continuity, Ronnie is not holding anything in her hands, cut back to her supposedly calling Ioulia a bitch and there's a glass in her hand. No way to know if the comment was actually directed at Ioulia.

There is even a term in the industry for this: "Frankenediting," or editing bits and unrelated pieces together to make your monster.

I really appreciated karentravels81's comment about asking herself why she is so involved with these women. My answer: because the audience is being manipulated horribly, and perhaps the worst manipulation is confusing us all about what is real. After all "real" makes it far more compelling than a clearly fictional soap opera.