Chicago is the newest city to be called home to the seven strangers that make up season 11 of MTV’s “The Real World.”
MTV, in association with Bunim/Murray Productions, has finally created the fantasy, product-placement infested loft in The Windy City. This is after using cities such as New York, London, New Orleans, Seattle, San Francisco, Honolulu, Boston, Miami and Los Angeles.
The reality-based soap opera has captivated audiences since 1992, when “The Real World New York” first aired. After just two episodes of the 22-episode season, enough provocative material is provided to keep viewers interested in yet another edition of “The Real World.” Audiences of the show have witnessed a gay commitment ceremony, an abortion, a physical assault, a stomach being pumped and countless confrontations.
Aneesa, Cara, Chris, Keri, Kyle, Theo and Tonya are the newest cast members. All between the ages of 18 and 25, the cast proves that anyone’s life can be entertaining, especially when they don’t place limits on their own self-exploitation.
Within the first 15 minutes of episode one, Aneesa, one of the four female roommates, announces that she feels safer having sexual relations with girls rather then boys. She nonetheless decides to not only share a room with Theo — one of her three male roommates who happens to have a crush on her — but also to take a shower with him. While she claims to have a sibling-type feeling for Theo, he wonders when she is going to become heterosexual to share a few intimate minutes with him.
Three other key issues emerge within the first day of the meeting between the seven cast mates. The first concerns Chris being a male homosexual not willing to quite yet come out of the closet to anyone except Aneesa. Also, Kyle and Keri have an obvious attraction for one another, and Tonya has a discomfort with African-Americans.
The cast members of season 11 seem to be rehashed versions of previous season’s cast members, which for the most part consists of the gay person, the naive girl from the middle of nowhere, the hyperactive extrovert and the African-American. Yet, they all seem to possess zero inhibitions concerning sex, perhaps the most important ingredient for a successful season.
In season 11 all seven roommates fit the outrageous type with respect to their willingness to share their private lives and desires to a world of strangers. Running half-naked from the shower to the hot tub throughout the show’s half-hour duration, the cast encapsulates unreserved sexuality.
During episode two, Cara’s sexual drive is the show’s main concern. Not wanting to be the girl who always has a boyfriend, Cara dumps her boyfriend Jared before entering Chicago. She takes advantage of her newfound freedom by filling her life with men.
In just one episode Cara manages to go on a date with a stranger she meets at the beach, whom she later declares after a brief encounter, “doesn’t quite do it” for her. Soon after Cara announces to Keri and Tonya that her love for Jared is eternal, only to sleep with a rock star she meets later that night. His “testosterone,” she tells her roommates the next day, is still “all over [her] hands.” A few nights later Cara finds more testosterone to cover her hands in, this time with Jared’s friend, Nick.
Meanwhile Chris comes out of the closest to the dismay of Tonya, who disagrees with that type of “lifestyle” and Theo, a homophobic in denial.
The rawness and unaware nature of the castmates of the first few seasons of “The Real World” has been replaced with a cast pre-packaged for sensationalism and thus highly marketable, and the show has maintained its popularity. Despite consistently choosing to document attention-seeking, shockingly extroverted young adults, the addiction to “The Real World” has not yet ceased to exist.
On the contrary, the success of “The Real World: True Confessions book,” “The Real World You Never Saw” video as well as MTV spin-off shows such as “Road Rules” and “Real World / Road Rules Challenge” have illustrated that the show’s expiration date is not in the foreseeable future.
“The Real World” airs tonight on MTV at 9:00 p.m.
