Is It Time to Break Up With the Real Housewives?
This is a preview of our pop culture newsletter The Daily Beasts Obsessed, written by senior entertainment reporter Kevin Fallon. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox each week, sign up for it here. You know that feeling that happens sometimes in life where youre like, How is this family? Or, How did my friends get like this? Thats how Im feeling about my beloved Real Housewives. Like family, like friends, you always knew they werent, per se, good people. But they were yours, and you loved them for it. NEWSLETTERS The Daily Beasts Obsessed Everything we cant stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. Subscribe By Clicking "Subscribe" you agree to have read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy  There was a moment in this weeks The Real Housewives of New York City, specifically when new cast member Eboni K. Williams hurled the grenade, Do you support white supremacy? into a boozy dinner in the middle of COVID lockdowns at a haunted tattoo parlor in Salem that they arrived at on a rock bands tour bus, where, for maybe the first time in my long history with the franchise, I wondered, Do I even like this anymore?  Its not that I dont think serious issues like race or politics or the fact that Ramona Singer absolutely voted for Trump but is too chickenshit to admit it because she thinks it will lose her Instagram followers shouldnt be talked about on these shows. Ive always rejected the idea that they are a guilty pleasure or even escapist. In fact, few reality series have ever exposed so nakedly the fundamental, fucked-up nature of American so-called aspirational society. It should be studied. To Bravos credit, the best seasons its produced have been in response to calls for more engagement with the serious issues that surround us. The Real Housewives of Potomac, which is in constant conversation with what it means to be a successful Black woman in the public eye, is arguably the best the franchise has ever producedeven if its the most slept-on. The recent season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, for all its COVID-safety mixed messaging, was elevated to new heights with its chronicling of its casts response to the Black Lives Matter movement. And all of this without losing the fun. RHOA mined season-long drama from an alleged threesome with a stripper at a bachelorette party. But for all the good thats come from Bravos real-world reckoning, as this recent RHONY storyline has shown, its been shrouded in unpleasant darkness. For every real-talk conversation that happens, there also seems to be entrapment, like the cast is being sent to slaughter. Not that they dont deserve it! And not that Williams isnt a total badass in her fearless confrontation. Advertisement  But phrases like white fragility, gaslighting, and white supremacy being tossed around as loosely as shots of vodka elicit an audience reaction akin to Luann de Lesseps in that scene: an immediate recoil and an instant WTF?  Im thinking about all of this not just because of the RHONY white-lady comeuppance, which is, truthfully, a long time coming. Its also the unease with which I watched this weeks episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. This has been an amazing season for the Beverly Hills installment. Kathy Hilton is bringing humor. Sutton Stracke is bringing plot. Dorit Kemsley is bringing fashion and plastic surgery lies. Wednesday nights episode centered around Stracke shrieking the line, What am I jealous of, your ugly leather pants? to another cast member, a top-tier Housewives moment. Irrelevant to any of that, Harry Hamlin made a bolognese. But the episode also aired in the wake of headlines that embezzlement victims of cast member Erika Girardis ex-husband, Tom, can collect payments from the star. Its the latest twist in an ongoing saga in which reports on how Tom won millions for widows, orphans, and burn victims but never paid out their settlements became publicalong with speculation about how complicit Erika was herself. Advertisement  For a reality series that has often incorporated its stars legal troubles into episodic drama, it doesnt get juicier than whats happening with Girardi. But at what point does a guilty conscience compel you to stop using the word juicy? Watching the time capsule of how Girardi tried to spin things for cameras months ago as more details unfolded in real time is a fascinating exercise. Its also unequivocally gross.  Watching the time capsule of how Girardi tried to spin things for cameras months ago as more details unfolded in real time is a fascinating exercise. Its also unequivocally gross.   Im thinking about this as The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City films while star Jen Shah is charged with defrauding elderly people in a telemarketing scam. Im thinking about this as The Real Housewives of New York City has morphed into a How to Catch a Racist spin-off that has me climbing into my couch cushions in discomfort on a weekly basis. Im thinking about this as a new season of The Real Housewives of Potomac gears up to premiere on Sunday night, the first in the aftermath of a public, ugly, and often sad legal war waged between castmates who got in a physical fight. Darkness is, of course, a part of our current reality, so it behooves Bravo to incorporate that into its shows. There have been moments when weve celebrated how much richer the series became for it. But now, at least for this fan, tuning in each week has started to feel like an uncomfortable, maybe even dreaded obligation, like dinner with your divorced dad and his new bitch of a wife. As usual, I dont have answers for how to fix it. At least we have the ugly leather pants.