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Kill Your Darlings

Kill Your Darlings

by Joshua Cormier and Keira Seidenberg

Social Sciences TV & Film

Season 2

Southern Harm (Season 2 Launch!)

After a bit of a hiatus, we're back for season 2! This season, we're talking about power: who has it, who doesn't, who wants it. In today's episode, we're exploring Bravo's Southern Charm--a show steeped in shocking amounts of colonialism and racism and somehow on its tenth season. Content warning(s): N/A Sources: -Blouet, H. (2019). Past Reality Meets Reality Television and Social Media: Southern Charm as a Tool in Education, Outreach, and Scholarship. Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage, 8(3), 273–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/21619441.2019.1674482 -https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Commentary-Southern-Charm-suffers-from-big-15636902.php -From E! How Southern Charm Became the Sleeper Hit of Bravo: https://www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/bravos-appalling-southern-charm-or-the-real-housewives-of-dixie.php:

Season 1

Recipe for a dead bedroom (with Emmanuelle BL)

In today's episode, we're diving into sex and (in)fidelity across Bravo. We'll tackle some hard hitting questions: if you don't kiss during a hookup, does that count as cheating? Is anyone on reality television having lots of sex? Content warning(s): N/A Sources: -Rehash podcast, Try Guys episode -In Bed with the Right podcast, Talia Lavin on the Christian Right’s View of Marriage and Parenting episode -The New Yorker, ‘Big Gulp: Drinking and Drama on Vanderpump Rules’ by Emily Nussbaum

Faulty Feminism (with Hélène Bigras-Dutrisac!)

Today, alongside our guest (and Keira's lovely coworker) Hélène Bigras-Dutrisac, we're looking at post-feminism and neoliberal feminism across the Real Housewives and Vanderpump Rules. We swear, it isn't as jargon-y as it sounds. Content warning(s): Domestic violence, sexual violence. Sources: -White Picket Fence podcast, Rise of Neoliberalism episode -Postfeminism and Popular Feminism by Sarah Banet-Weiser -How neoliberalism colonized feminism – and what you can do about it by Catherine Rottenberg, The Conversation

Beware the Humunculus (with Phoebe Kaufman!)

Today, with our guest Phoebe Kaufman from the Money Can't Buy You Class podcast, we're talking about the construction of reality for reality TV stars. A little Berger, a little Butler, tune in to help us make sense of it all. Content warning(s): N/A Sources: Give Them Lala podcast, The One About All the VPR Moments episode The Daily podcast, Sunday Read: How Tom Sandoval Became the Most Hated Man in America. Peter L. Berger, The Social Construction of Reality: https://web.archive.org/web/20191009202613id_/http://perflensburg.se/Berger%20social-construction-of-reality.pdf Judith Butler’s Theory of Gender Performativity, Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XFg8f1STLk&ab_channel=Film%26MediaStudies Louis Althusser's "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses." Culture Study Podcast, The Complicated Future of Reality TV episode

Let's talk about the husbands

This week, for some lighter content, we're looking at the Husbands of our leading ladies on Bravo. From the fedora-wearers to the men sexually bested by their pets, we have a lot to say. Content warning(s): N/A Sources: - r/realhousewives, Gender Roles and Sexuality thread, first published 5 yr. ago - r/realhousewives, Best Real Housewives' Husbands thread, first published 1 yr. ago - Vulture, The Types of Men You Find on Real Housewives article - Observer, The Everlasting Appeal of the Real Housewives article, by Jamie Valentino - Behind the Gates: a feminist critique of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Orange County" by Giovanna Derenzo, published for California Polytechnic State University

Just a little dirty

In the famous words of RHONY's Dorinda Medley, "Martinis are like breasts: two are great, three are too many". Today's episode will cover substance use across Real Housewives and Vanderpump rules, looking at why and when women are in the hot seat for one too many pinots, and how producers fail to provide adequate support for stars struggling with addiction. Content warning(s): Substance use disorder, abuse (brief mention). A quick correction to today's content: Kim Richards was abused as a child, not 'by' a child. Sources: -The Guardian, 'Alcohol is a Hand Grenade: how reality TV went from boozy Big Brother to nosecco Love Island' article, by Amelia Tait -BBC News, 'Serena Williams and the trope of the 'angry black woman'' article, by Ritu Prasad -Vanity Fair, 'Inside the Real Housewives Reckoning That's Rocking Bravo' article, by Anna Peele -Angelofdevs.wordpress.com blog

On Master Cleanses and BBLs (with Sophie!)

This week, we're discussing diet culture and cosmetic procedures accross the Bravo-verse. Cause a little nip and tuck never hurt anybody, right? Tune in to hear from our second guest, Sophie! Content warning(s): Disordered eating, dieting, weight loss. Sources: -The McMaster Journal of Communication - ‘Reality Television and the Promotion of Weight Loss: A Canadian Case’ by Zuzanna Blaszkiewicz. -RealSelf article, All the Cosmetic Procedures the Real Housewives Got in 2022, by Melanie Rud. -Maintenance Phase podcast, Ozempic episode. -People Magazine, Sonja Morgan Reveals She Got a Lower Face Lift and Neck Lift: 'I Needed a Pick Me Up' article, by Hanna Flanagan

Small dog big purse (Mini Episode)

Pets are a huge part of our favorite Bravo shows. In today's mini episode, we’ll be looking at what they say about wealth and class in The Real Housewives and VDP Rules. Content warning(s): N/A Sources: Vulture, The Most Iconic Housewives Pets, Ranked, by Bethy Squires Graduate thesis for Texas A&M University, Commodifying Fido: Pets as Status Symbols, by April M. Plemons Reality Tea, Lisa Vanderpump Sued by Luxury Dog Boutique Over Not Promoting Giggy’s Clothes, by Erin Martin.

Selling suffering: domestic violence in the Real Housewives

Surprisingly (or, not so surprisingly) there’s a lot of domestic violence that rears its ugly head across the Housewives franchises. Today, we’re talking about abuse, victim blaming, and our own responsibilities, as viewers. P.S. We’ve finally figured out our audio quality! Content warning(s): Domestic violence and suicide. Sources: [As always] Money Can’t Buy You Class podcast Behind the Velvet Rope podcast - Taylor Armstrong (on RHOBH, Russell, The Domestic Abuse, Lisa Vanderpump & OG Cast!) - parts I and II. Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others - great synopsis and evaluation at: https://stairway.highexistence.com/regarding-the-pain-of-others-by-susan-sontag/ Reuters, Housewives Star Taylor Armstrong Details Abuse article

Bravo, Bravo, f*cking Bravo (with Lila Taylor!)

In this week’s episode, we look at breaking the fourth wall in reality television and the impact of this technique on storytelling and the viewer’s experience. Content warning(s): N/A Sources: - The New Yorker, How “The Real World” Created Modern Reality TV, by Emily Nussbaum - The Collector, Breaking the Fourth Wall: A Brief History of the Narrative Technique, by Theo Kapetanakis - TV Tropes Wiki, Breaking the Fourth Wall - Reddit page: r/realhousewives, ‘What was your favorite breaking of the fourth wall moment?’ thread

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