Can I Still Watch the Atlanta Housewives?

"The Real Housewives of New York" begins its second season on Bravo tonight at 11pm and that got me thinking this article on Essence.com. In it, DeShawn Snow tells how she was dumped from the show because she didn't bring enough drama.

I'll just say it: On first read it made me feel like Bravo was going for the stereotype. After all, the breakout star of the show is Nene, who is all attitude; she's the one who keeps it real by wielding truth like a blunt instrument, the one who wasn't too chichi to threaten to throw Kim over the couch.

That's not Deshawn. Sure, she's a bit much with that whole needing a staff to run her house thing, but she was the peace keeper, the one with a little class, a little Christian dignity. Can't there be one like her? Why, does the show about black women have to be "a circus show"? (That's how DeShawn quoted a Bravo producer.)

Don't roll your eyes. Bravo made race an issue first. It's pretty clear that as they were expanding the Housewives brand they went to Atlanta because it's a hub of black wealth and they knew showing this slice of African-American life would be interesting.

I know we don't watch shows like these for edification. They are what
they are, fun brain candy. But they are produced, put together by
editors, writers, a crew that shapes characters and images and stories.

So is kicking off Deshawn an attempt to keep some home-girl, eye-rolling, Springer-esque quotient. I hope not, but I'm leaning toward, no.

If you watch all the shows as I do, it's pretty clear that all the housewives have to bring the drama. And they all have their moments of what the?...ness. The OC ladies are so backstabbing and superficial, I don't know how they can function. The NY ladies are less evil, but definitely neurotic.

All the shows are an exercise in superficiality. So I'd say the nonsense is pretty equally spread. In my mind, it was the reunion show that tipped the Atlanta ladies into stereotype and the sad thing is that was, in a sense, the moment when they could most be themselves. They had seen the episodes, there was no quick-cut editing. And yet two of them threatened physical violence.

So, I guess that's who they are. Or at least a part of who they are. That's not Bravo's fault. We'll have to watch to see how far Bravo goes.