Reality right now is not quite what many people expected it to be.
Political leanings aside, it’s not a stretch to say that, for most of us, the election results were a record-scratch moment: Wait, the world around me isn’t exactly as I had assumed?
That new reality, which it turns out was the actual reality all along, has started to come into clearer focus in the last two weeks. As the clown car is being loaded with Trump’s cabinet picks, we’ve come to terms that it’s not headed to a circus tent, but the White House. Many of us are recalibrating how we consume news and how we engage with family and friends about what’s going on in the country. And, because of my nonsense obsession with it, I’ve even turned my raised eyebrow towards the TV.
How, I wonder, would this real-world reality be reflected on reality TV?
I chatted with a few colleagues about this. Would conservative stereotypes become popular again? That would usher in a resurgence of shows like Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty, the ones that border on offensive in their exploitation of rural redstate communities—treating their lives as zoological exhibits to gawk and, often, laugh at.
Because of the patronizing nature of those shows, I actually don’t imagine a return to the proliferation of that kind of content. I predict the nuance of what’s quietly been happening in culture—the realization that way more people ideologically align with a set of beliefs that had previously been kept quiet or hidden—will be reflected louder and more glaringly in reality TV.
In other words, are we headed towards a future where there is The Real Housewives of MAGA?
That’s an admittedly obtuse and cheeky title—especially since “MAGA” isn’t, like, a city. But I am curious about the ways in which reality stars’ views, particularly political beliefs that they are unabashedly vocal about, might change over the next few years—and how audiences will react to that shift.
If you’re a Bravo fan, you’ve probably operated under the assumption that a not insignificant number of the cast members you’ve meme’d, fanned out over, and elevated to some sort of camp icon status are probably Trump supporters. In the context of this piece, I don’t mean that as a scarlet letter, though, over the last several years, if a Real Housewife was outwardly “MAGA,” it was a liability. Maybe, even, it was grounds for firing.
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, there was an admirable push for accountability and responsibility from networks who produce the most indelible reality series. The most cynical of reality TV fans might brand that as a shift towards “wokeness.” But it really was a much-needed reflection on the impact of these shows as a platform, and the effect that amplifying the behaviors and statements made by cast members actually had.
People were fired from shows. Some series were canceled entirely. One of the most iconic moments to come out of BravoCon, the splashy reality TV fan festival where the draw was appearances by dozens of Real Housewives, was when one former Housewife asked another live on stage, “Where were you on January 6?” The implication was, among Bravo fans, the worst thing a Housewife could be was a fervent MAGA supporter.
I wonder now if things would be different.
Again, I don’t think it would surprise anyone that the rich white women in their fifties they watch on Bravo are Trump supporters, or have political views that align with the current Republican party. I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that there’s long been an assumption that reality TV fans—at least the ones who watch Real Housewives—skew liberal. Because of that, it’s been the case that, overwhelmingly, the only politics that are shared on these shows are support for Democrats.
During the 2012 election, supporting the Hillary Clinton campaign was a major storyline for several Real Housewives of New York City cast members. I’ve never seen a couchful of women sweat uncomfortably as much as several members of the cast did when, during the season’s reunion after the election, Andy Cohen asked each woman who they voted for—the implication that the ones who refused to answer voted for Trump. Gasp!
And when cast members have strayed from this mandate to only talk politics if they are reflecting liberal values, it hasn’t gone well. Remember when Camille Grammer defended Brett Kavanaugh on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills?
But, like the country at large, the truth is that there are stars of these shows who have conservative political beliefs. I don’t know if they are “MAGA,” in the way that the term is often employed as a pejorative, but they likely vote in a way and hold certain ideals that reflect the Republican values that got Trump elected a second time this month.
What I’ll be fascinated to see is, in the wake of this election, how politics on these shows will shift. Will the liberal cast members who have been vocal about politics on these series double down, becoming even more passionate about their beliefs, this time in the form of “resistance”? Will reality TV revert to the time when politics were simply not discussed? Or, emboldened by the election results, will conservative cast members be outspoken about their support for Trump—something that would have been considered career suicide just two weeks ago?
Moreover, would a reality show with cast members who are openly MAGA and preach the ticket’s value perhaps be a huge hit, with viewers refreshed to see their values finally reflected back to them on the shows they watch?
There doesn’t have to be a Real Housewives of MAGA because, let’s be frank, it probably already exists. (I’m thinking Real Housewives of New Jersey or Real Housewives of Salt Lake City would likely not need a major cast shakeup in order to adopt that branding…) It will be interesting, however, to watch if there’s a shift in behavior and openness among the stars of the shows and the networks that air them.
There’s been such a hesitance to spotlight conservative politics on reality TV that it could actually be a fascinating, maybe even insightful change for the genre. After so many years of Kardashians, why don’t we keep up with the Kushners instead? If women in the age and wealth bracket that typically funnel to the Housewives casting offices are having certain conversations about politics and culture, why shouldn’t reality shows air those discussions on screen?
If nothing else, I think there is something that the genre’s fans, regardless of political beliefs, can unite behind: It’s time to make reality real again.
