After watching Flavor of Love last night, I have grown increasingly disappointed with the quality of the show. In addition the littany of issues that I raised last week, it is becoming more and more apparent that the show is highly staged. In addition to creating highly contrived circumstances, such as Somethin’ defacating on the floor or the ostensibly random acts of petting between the contestants, the show represents Flav as oblivious to the intentions and backgrounds of the girls. This became obvious last season when Flav expressed shock and disappointment that Hoopz did not want to pursue a relationship with him after the taping ended. But as Hoopz pointed out, the folks at VH1 had already begun recruiting contestants for the second season before she was announced the winner.

This season, however, the storyline has become ridiculously shaky. For example, last night Nibblez went to Flav to let him know that Toastee was a “porno star.” An ostensibly shocked Flav launched an immediate investigation into her past, ultimately eliminating her from the show for denying the allegations. While it is possible that one or two contestants slip through the cracks of a background investigation –take, for example, the people from Amerian Idol whose skeletons have emerged after advancing in the show– it is completely unbelievable that such easily accessible information is consistently overlooked by the producers.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the show is no longer enjoyable. Rather, in order to enjoy it we must engage in the practice of kayfabe, or the suspension of disbelief when watching the show. The term, which emerged during the heyday of professional wrestling, was central to sustaining the illusion that the storylines and characters were not fictional. For example, wrestling magazines like Pro Wrestling Illustrated and The Wrestler treated wrestling as if it were a real sport, providing thorough coverage of matches, ranking wrestlers in various organizations, and voting for wrestler of the year. Although the term is less relevant in the wrestling world –WWE owner Vince McMahon admitted that wrestling was fake years ago– it provides a useful lens through which to understand the pleasure of watching “reality” television.

That said, I will no longer “break kaybabe” in my analyses of Flavor of Love. Instead, I will describe, discuss, and critique the show as if it were entirely real. In addition to allowing me to preserve my dignity and sanity, maintaining kayfabe will allow me to assume the posture of most of the show’s viewers, who actually believe Hottie couldn’t make chicken and Buckwild just happens to be a professional comedian.

Here’s what is in mine:

Zap Mama – Bandy Bandy

India Arie – This Too Shall Pass

Lupe Fiasco – Kick, Push

Pink – Don’t Let Me Get Me

Ghostface w/ Neyo & Kanye West – Back Like That (Remix)

Rhymefest – Brand New

Michelle Williams – Heard A Word

Speech – Clock’s In Sync With Mine

Sister Nancy – Bom Bom

Jean Grae – Love Song

Many of you have emailed me about footage from the last CNN appearance. Although, I still don’t have any available, the transcript can be read here:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0608/24/sbt.01.html

For this mother, sending her children to public instead of private school is about investing in her community, and working to make it good for everyone — at least, that’s the idea she would like her kids to grow up with.
Back to (Public vs. Private) School
By Ruth Conniff 

Our oldest child is going to kindergarten this fall, and we are caught up in the back-to-school frenzy. We have to get school supplies, and I notice one telling change since we were kids: The list now includes not just supplies for our child, but a share of the pens, crayons, scissors, and glue the whole class will need this year. I guess budget cuts have reached the supply cabinet. We have to make doctors’ appointments, fill out forms, find out who the teacher will be, and talk to our neighbors about finding the bus stop. It’s a thrilling, poignant, nervous time.

I’m proud of the parents who are keeping their kids in our community school, and who have decided that the best way to help their kids get a great education is to work to support the staff and help make the school as good as it can be.

“Will I be scared?” my daughter asked yesterday, when we stopped by the school building to pick up some forms, and she tried out the playground equipment and peeked in the disassembled classrooms. Maybe at first, I said, but you’ll like it. I’m sure that she will. Her friends from the neighborhood will be there. And I’ve heard enough good things from other parents — many of whom volunteer in the classroom, go to meetings, and otherwise stay involved — that I have a comfortable feeling of community support for my daughter’s big leap to kindergarten.

But as I stepped over a condom wrapper on the playground and looked past my beaming five-year-old showing off on the monkey bars and noticed the spray paint on the slide, I had my own little twinge.

For the rest of the story, click here. 

“Death is always close by. And what’s important is not to know if you can avoid it, but to know that you have done the most possible to realise your ideas.” – Frantz Fanon

[Note: This quote was selected by today’s guest blogger, Glenn "Omodiende" Reitz]