It’s hard not to react to any form of reality programming with an exasperated sigh and an aggravated eye-roll towards the next set of vain, idiotic savages vying desperately for celebrity status: a title that, at this point, may as well mean America’s shit-taking court jester. So no one’s at fault for not thinking highly of Showtime’s The Real L Word—which sounds like it could simply be another The Real World, just with lesbians—as it enters its third season. And for the most part, this is actually the case: The Real L Word is just another example of observing an exaggerated lifestyle with exaggerating people. But if there’s anything that differentiates it from other shows, what we have here is an interesting depiction of the day-to-day lives of a group of women—yes, lesbians—that's actually fairly interesting.
The premiere episode introduces a multitude of lady drama and angst as the show zips between girls from both New York and Los Angeles dealing with a variety of different situations, ranging from some of the girls' ongoing pressure while on tour to marriage (and everything that entails) and what that might mean in the eyes of the gay community. But it never gets too heavy-handed or too "gay power" for its own good, even if the more interesting issues revolve around sexuality. While tantalizing shots of women bumping uglies with each other would have been an easier sell, the show instead treats its characters like real human beings instead of pretty piles of meat ready to bicker and bitch-fight. These are normal people going through normal things that someone normal might actually have to go through, and even if it's still business as usual as far as reality TV goes, there's a twinge of humility not seen elsewhere.
A stand-out example here is Romy, a former lesbian now in a heterosexual relationship, existing along the outskirts of the gay community and causing a slight derision amongst her friends who are all gay themselves. Like nearly everything else in the episode, it's only quickly touched upon, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out during the season. The Real L World is fine reality programming, whatever that means to you; of the cascade of reality crap that appears on television networks, Showtime certainly boasts one of the better ones. It’s about the lives of real people—they just happen to be gay.
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