This is their Real World

"This is the true story... of seven strangers... picked to live in a house...work together and have their lives taped... to find out what happens... when people stop being polite... and start getting real...The Real World."

So says the show's OBB.

Been watching the current season (thanks to torrent downloading..shhhhhh.. haha) that brought eight American youngsters to the sandy beaches of Cancun. And so far, they've been nothing but entertaining.

Sans the possibility that this is actually a scripted show, I actually like its premise. I mean, come on, admitting that they won't be polite on this show is already a winner. With all the bleeps and the blurred fingers sticking out of each episode, I get the sense that these kids aren't acting out. That they're actually pissed. They they're actually having fun (at least occasionally.) At least to them, this is what being "real" is all about.

As a Filipino viewer, I couldn't help but compare them with our own futile attempts at reality shows. I remember how surprised our fellow Filipinos acted when they first saw the "controversial" first season of Big Brother. Filipinos are not like that, they said. But what if, our race has already evolved to such an extent? That women are no longer Maria Claras and that Filipino juveniles nowadays are not well behaved the whole 24 hours? I like it how Hannah, my officemate, puts it - our culture has become so traditional and customary that despite the evolving times, it still tries to be traditional yet at the end of it, is just plain pretentious.

Since that season, viewers watch Housemates that are reduced to drones whose main task is to please everyone. But honestly, why is our culture too scared to watch the real us? I feel like we're living in a culture that expects everyone to get along, when sometimes we do have to disagree. When we do have to take stands.

"You're not always going to like everyone and they're not always going to like you. That's just the way the world works," says Emilee, a roommate of this season's Real World.

And I agree.