TV Review: Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School – Redemption, The True Self, and Learning How to Play The Con

I am absolutely convinced that many reality show contestants live in a post-traumatic state of regret. How can they not? After the celebrity has waned, after the show in which they embarrassed themselves has aired, after they find they can no longer look at their parents without shame, some of these folks — the ones with a sense of propriety — probably wish they could turn back time and return to the days before they made fools of themselves on worldwide television.

This is probably most true of contestants who have gone wild in dating reality shows. I have never had the opportunity to have a camera follow me around. (I don’t drink but honestly, if I was the kind of person to get drunk and sex-crazed and cast all common sense away I wouldn’t have a camera following me around.) But alas the world is full of women who have publicly done stupid things and who now regret their stupidity. (Okay, men do stupid things too, but the world doesn’t judge them as harshly as it judges women.)

Anyway, up comes the new VH1 show Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School, a spin-off from VH1’s Flavor-Flav family of shows. I’ve got to say that the first episode won me over when Mo’Nique, the host of the show and the actress who created the series, removed the foul nicknames the girls had received from Flavor Flav. Flavor Flav had given them these nicknames to comment on some nasty aspect of their behavior or some body parts (Boots, Hottie, Crazy, etc). When Mo’Nique tossed those nicknames into the cleansing fire, the director added some gospel tones in the background and - what with all those tears - I could have sworn I was watching a baptism or purification ceremony. Yeah, I’ll admit it. I almost cried. It was like seeing the local town prostitute come into church and give up her life of sin. Yep, tears welled up in my eyes.

I like working class reality shows. Whether it’s some show about crab fishermen, folks doing dirty jobs, or home makeover shows that help the poor, I like seeing my own people – working class people, poor people, black people, poor white people - in the media. Frankly, most past television reality shows and sitcoms dealt with too many middle-class women with Barbie Doll physiques and perfect etiquette. There was the occasional sitcom or talk show that dealt with working class Americans but they were few and far between. As Becky “Buckwild” Johnston, one of the girls on Charm School, said of The Bachelor, “I never liked them white people reality shows.” As far as I was concerned, truer words were never spoken.

Article Author: Carole McDonnell

Carole McDonnell's short stories and essays appear online and in print, in speculative fiction, ethnic, and Christian publications. She lives in New York with her husband, two sons, and their pets. Wind Follower, published by Juno Books in June 2007, …

Visit Carole McDonnell's author page — Carole McDonnell's Blog