I’ve received many brilliant posts and comments over the three years of jeffpearlman.com, but this, delivered by Kirk, may well be my absolute all-time favorite.
Not to hijack the whole Ivy league debate, but I watched this episode last night (wife made me- honest). These two are attention whoring, elitist douchebags. They loved all the attention that was given to them by the panel, the focus group, and then all their friends. They loved that everyone was taking time out of their lives to focus on them. And you know what? Every single group HATED the name they wanted and went with. Every single group gave ‘Bowen’ low scores or just plain old hated it. And they still went with the name that everyone hated, even though they framed each group session as being that they really wanted these people’s input. They didn’t want the input- they wanted the attention.
Jeff- I know you meet a lot of horrible people in lockerrooms across the country, but I honestly cannot see how these two are any different from your experiences with Rauch, Werth, Puhols, or any number of other untold stories you may have.
The show, Pregnant in Heels, was on again last night, and I couldn’t keep myself from watching the re-run. And I have decided Kirk is right. Why in the world would someone do what Mitch and his wife did? It’s not like they’re two teenagers, battling over paternity on Springer. No, they’re adults. Professionals. Have money, have status, have kids, have careers.
So why?
Answer (I’m guessing): Celebrity.
People love celebrity. Crave celebrity. Want celebrity more than they want money or success or love. They want to be spotted in an airport; want to be recognized; want all the supposed perks that come with being in a truly awful reality television show. Kirk is right—this was clearly a ploy to be seen. They had a name, they kept the name. The whole “We want an Ivy League name” was bullshit. They wanted to be seen. To have people say, “Oh, I saw you on Bravo …”
In hindsight, I think it’d be more respectable to go on TV looking for a baby name. The search for fame is ugly and petty and dumb. It’s perfect for reality TV, because reality TV is, generally, awful.
