AverageBro: What I Learned From Watching Real Housewives of Atlanta
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 8:00AM 
By AverageBro
Well, season two is over, and yeah, I actually watched each and every episode. Here's what I learned from RHOA.
There's Absolutely Nothing Real About Reality TV... - I mean, seriously, let's start with the title of this show: only two of these broads are even married. It doesn't even take place in Atlanta proper. What is that, Norcross? Stone Mountain? Dunwoody? With the exception of Kandi, none of them live in the houses seen on the show, they are all leased by Bravo. Three of the folks on the show have lost their homes in real life since Season 1 ended. Is there even anyone on this show with a real Day Job?
...And There's Nothing Wrong With Reality TV Not Being Real - Seriously, folks, these are just soap operas that employ non-union actors. That's all it is, and there's really nothing wrong with that. It's just entertainment, and entertain, it does. Some folks (including me at one point) say shows like RHOA present negative stereotypes of black people. I say, bullcrap, black people present negative stereotypes of black people. We've done a pretty good job of effin' up our image without any help from Bravo. These ladies are just actresses. Period.
Reality TV Has No Clue Of How To Handle Reality - How hard would it have been to simply edit out AJ's parts after he got killed in real life? Watching a freshly-dead man for the next four weeks just felt really eerie, and really wrong. Shame on Bravo.
There Are A Lot Of Black Men Wearing Pumps In Atlanta. I Guess. - I've spent plenty of time in "The A", but I guess I missed this whole epidemic of black men wearing heels and women's jeans somehow. For those in Atlanta, please fill me in: is this sorta thing really that rampant down there, or is the show dialing it up for dramatic effect?
NeNe Is Really Two-Faced - It's really funny watching how other viewers have suddenly gotten wise to the same stuff I was saying last year about NeNe. I told ya'll from the jump this was one cruddy chick, but nah, ya'll thought she was "real". That woman hates worse than Buck Nasty, and a million well-penned Denene Millner tell-alls can't change that. This woman is simply detestable. And yeah, I'm aware that she's simply playing this character on scripted TV, but something tells me she's just as unlikable in person.
For The 1,342nd Time, There Is No Big Papa - Seriously ya'll, Big Papa's real name is Bravo TV. Anyone with half a brain could figure out that Kim was just included to make the show less threatening, and she needed an angle. Enter the "made up boyfriend".
I'll Watch It Again - As much as I might pick on this show, it still works because it adheres to the golden rule of TeeVee... Be Interesting. And on that account, it succeeds.
Question: What did you think of this season's RHOA?
AverageBro.com is the official cyber play cousin of The Black Snob.
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Reader Comments (23)
one of my homeboys said that some broad was auditioning and he had to do the pictures.....she had to rent furniture to fill her empty ass house.
shouldn't you be a wife to be on this show?
oh yea, there are mad gay dudes down here. lenox mall is chock full of the he-she's.
i accidently walked in on her book signing at a barnes and noble. the whole thing smelled like broken dreams and failed aspirations and one of her entourage came onto me.
oh yea, isn't "big poppa" married and had to move away?
Actually, there is a real Big Poppa. His name is Lee Najjar. He's married with two children. And *dead* at Nene's book signing smelling "like broken dreams and failed aspirations."
Thank God I have better things to do with my life than watch this show.
"These are just soap operas that employ non-union actors"
I totally agree. I wish more people would understand this and stop debating whats real and whats not. So I really can't agree when you say Nene is two faced, she's just acting, playing it up for the cameras.
This show is my guilty pleasure. I know, I know. Let the judgement ensue. LOL I will say this about Nene.--she has abandonment issues. Read the part in her book about her upbringing. Total fear of abandonment. That's why she trips so hard when her friends make other friends. That's the root of the issue between her and Kim. Started last year with Sheree; continued this year with Kandi.
I'm not ashamed to say I love this show. It's strictly for entertainment purposes and anyone who takes it too seriously really needs to get a life or just stop watching television period.
I wasn't all that into season 2 as much as season 1. It all got to be a bit much for me. It seemed as if their personalities were too dialed up.
Reality TV is like wrestling was in the 70's & 80's when people would have serious debates on wether or not it was real. Of course it isn't real, but isn't it fun thinking that some of this stuff could really be happening? Love it or hate it, shows like this and others aren't going away anytime soon. They're much cheaper to produce than sitcoms and dramas and they make average people into celebrities.
Last thing - I hate to admit this, but I know someone (very well) who is shooting a reality show right now. The interactions are real but they are heavily guided by the producers and even taped and retaped until they get the desired outcome.
I just wish The White Girl Role had been filled with someone better looking than Kim, since half the show seesm to revolve around her. Give me something to look at.
@ Swiv
"i accidently walked in on her book signing at a barnes and noble. the whole thing smelled like broken dreams and failed aspirations and one of her entourage came onto me."
Comment of the decade. Hands down.
No, there are not tons of men in Atl walking around with high heeled boots on, just that foolish crew. Bravo will continue to do what they do best. Go to a city, pick losers/social climbers to pretend to be socialites (the real socialites wouldn't let a camera near them or even think about bringing shame to their family name) and tell them to play it up for the cameras. No one in Atlanta has heard of anyone on the show (besides Kandi) and the more over the top they act, they know there might be a season 3 and a job for them in the future. I know it is pure entertainment but I cannot even bare to watch that much ignorance for 5 minutes. I was born and raised in Atl and it just hurts to see them represent this city.
It works for Bravo.
Housewife - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
1 : a married woman in charge of a household
Question: a non-married woman in charge of a household is (a) ___________________________?
Best "housewife": Dwight (Real or hyped, Dwight brought energy, humor and spiciness to the quintet.)
your observations crack me up, but there is a ' Big Poppa', but he's still married...lol
I watched that show this year because I had heard so much about it from other sites. What a crock! Not only are there only 2 housewives, but when I heard them say that money and CLASS get you through in Atlanta; I waited for the class. Do they think that folk don't know that there are truly couples in Atlanta that would not deign to appear on that show. If I showed up at any place in Atlanta and any of them were lunching, I'd know immediately that I was in the wrong place. Let me take Candy out of the mix, because she was the only one who seemed to have an iota of sense in the whole thing. I was glad when PROJECT RUNWAY started because those housewives are horrible. AND WOULD SOMEONE SEND THEM THE RULE FOR USING "ME" AND "I".
I read this post and went on line to watch an episode of the show. I only got through 15 minutes of one of the episodes - maybe the second to last one and those 15 minutes were quite painful. What a load of rubbish!!!
"Some folks (including me at one point) say shows like RHOA present negative stereotypes of black people. I say, bullcrap, black people present negative stereotypes of black people. We've done a pretty good job of effin' up our image without any help from Bravo."
This statement should get repeated as a mantra. Great wisdom.
I haven't watched the show, yet I have seen clips of it at the gym.
I am sure we will have more of their bad taste and materialism as I understand it is one of the highest rated shows on Bravo or THE highest rated.
Atlanta is the black gay capital of the US. I know cross dressing and homosexuality are not always necessarily linked BUT in the last 5-10 years thousands of black gay men have left New York and flooded to Atlanta. Since there is such a large network of black gay men in Atlanta now, other gays feels comfortable to move there. It is one of a few places in the South a black gay man or a cross dresser can walk freely and NOT feel threatened.
I must admit, I was a fan w/the first season; season 2 - not so much. Guess the "cast" was hungrier the first time out - and it appears that they've "arrived" now. They've exhausted their 15 minutes of fame with me. It was a guilty pleasure since the only other "reality" shows I watch are on the food network and "Jeopardy"!
Okay I think Nene is somewhat as a fame whore but detestable? I have met far worse people than her. Why put everything on her? It takes all of them to tangle and I think everybody in Atl just harps on Khandi because she got a little money and success but what is really interesting about her? Nothing.
@Aura
NeNe should be very happy that atleast one person bought her book. LOL.
"i accidently walked in on her book signing at a barnes and noble. the whole thing smelled like broken dreams and failed aspirations and one of her entourage came onto me."
LOVE IT.
Can't bring myself to watch the show. Just can't do it. Got better things to watch, things to do, and people to see.
I haven't seen season 2 yet. From the clips I've been able to catch online it looks really over the top (which is saying something since season 1 was so ridiculous to begin with). I will full admit that I watch all the shows in the franchise because I find them hilarious. I don't take any of it seriously, it's like watching a comedy and soap opera in one. After a long day at work, I need some fluff!