10 Pineapples for Cello-wrap

A new type of breast implant has hit the market. Called the "Gummi Bear," this new material possesses a squeeze-feel that can be likened to our favorite bite-sized German forest friend. Fascinating. As the presence of this wondrous product escalates, the Brach's bins in your local supermarket are bound to become more unsanitary than ever. Safe munching kids; look for your candies wrapped.

I instantly regret my verb choice.

So, hey, let's talk about the resurgence of my life:
January 9th: The Bachelor- Paris
January 12th: Beauty and the Geek 2
January 17th: American Idol, Season 19

LA. LA. LAAAA.

Now, let me tell you why I am looking forward to this blast of sofresh&soclean so-what-if-i'm-an-Ahole TV...

1. I've been thinking a lot about the confessional motif of reality TV. In the most reduced sense, I'm thinking inandaround the Confessional Booth on The Real World. How do the secrets conspicuously kept battle the "truths" disclosed?... Are we supposed to view these character confessions as performative acts? Does this construct mirror the traditional teaser method employed by all forms of media; but, has the producer-as-puppeteer taken on a mini-me in the Reality TV character?

2. The new Bachelor is a very nice-looking man. And it is always fun to pick out the Bachelorettes with gummibears on the first show of each season.

3. I'm wondering, as reality TV becomes naturalized (and the mediascape smudges in with "real life"), are we becoming more adept at fully exposing (read: crafting) slices of our selves, or are we (as both characters and voyeurs) beginning to lose our collective footholds, resulting in Woolfian confessionals that are, consequently, more authentic.... though "authentic" is inherently slippery anyway...

4. Will we begin to see gaps in Reality TV personas-as-Objects that I can stick my pinky finger in? The balance of Object/Social Subject has traditionally been painstakingly contrived; and, although producers will strain to keep it that way, have the media-consumers become conditioned and versed in these methods enough to start pulling nuggets from the Social Subject angle that are plump enough to juice?

***

I wait and wonder like the doesthisevenmattermonger that I am... are we heading toward thick lines of demarcation between real/mediated images and personas, or more towards a watercolor-wash of the two?

[I hope for the latter, as this sort of analysis is less concrete and more making-animals-from-clouds... which, of course, is the only technique I know for lulling myself into a warm-milked sleep.]