Under Review:

Under Review: 'Real World D.C.'

An openly bisexual cast member on D.C.‘s real world is making the personal political among a cast that seems otherwise short on civic engagement.

By Kay Steiger
January 8, 2010

Mike, the all-American bisexual on The Real World: D.C. (MTV)

Last week, MTV debuted their 23rd season of the Real World. This time, the show is set in the heart of democracy: Washington, D.C., It's already been speculated that this season will be a remarkably unremarkable season of the reality television program that made the group house phenomenon famous.

While MTV might want to make viewers believe that this is the typical Real World turned on its head, full of youth activism spawned by last fall's election, few in this season’s cast would fall into the category of political. Indeed, the eight cast members—vain, angry and irritating—are almost everything but representative of the average, civically charged young person flocking to D.C. these days.

Nevertheless, though the cast seems a bit less diverse and a bit more apathetic than the Millennial generation overall, it does include at least two individuals, Mike and Emily, whose bisexual identities practically force them into the political sphere. (Although Emily seems to be rather entwined with a male housemate at the moment.)

For example, Mike, who admits that his bisexuality and religious background have come into conflict in the past, unintentionally displays one of the most important issues of the Millennial generation: the fight for LGBT equality. Young people under 30 are the most supportive generation of same-sex marriage (as well as other LGBT rights), and 58 percent of Millennials support same-sex marriage compared to 44 percent of Americans overall. Thus, while issues of same-sex marriage, the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act are absent from the show, Mike's very presence may evoke the most interesting response when it comes to LGBT politics.

Thanks to coy story development on the part of MTV, at first, Mike was portrayed as the typical hetero beefcake—athletic build, tan skin, coiffed brown hair, and a bio that reads, "In high school, Mike was the typical jock ... a star athlete, prom king, popular with all the girls ... an all around golden child from a Christian family." But at a dinner outing on his first evening in the house, Mike revealed that his past lovers included men. At this, another cast member, Ashley, who openly admitted she was attracted to Mike at the outset of the show and kissed him on the dance floor one of the first nights they went out as a house, seemed shocked. She began to ask questions about whether he was "mostly" attracted to women or men. It seemed clear that Ashley, who had earlier professed her devotion to liberal politics, found it difficult to comprehend sexuality that wasn’t black and white.

In the second episode, when Mike kisses another man at a gay bar, Ashley began referring to him as a "gay guy" and denying her attraction to him. "I hate that I made out with a gay guy and now everyone thinks that I want him. I don't," she insisted. While Ashley might politically identify with the rest of her generation, one that supports same-sex marriage and LGBT rights more than any other, the show is a microcosm of how difficult it is to navigate interpersonal relationships when you don't have experience with those who fall outside the gay/straight dichotomy.

Further complicating the picture is that Mike has identified himself as extremely religious (though he attends a "liberal church"). Ashley identified herself as a regular church attendee as well. Of course, the show's self-professed atheist, Ty from Baltimore, then began a heated discussion with Mike, accusing Christians of closed-mindedness. Ty's views seem fairly typical of the Millennial generation, in fact, a recent Pew study shows that Millennials are the "least religiously observant youths" since Pew began tracking numbers.

Bolstering this idea that in D.C. politics will permeate the Real World whether the cast members like it or not, scenes of Mike going to an interview for an internship at the pro-gay rights group the Human Rights Campaign. Though the HRC has gotten some flack lately for focusing too heavily on marriage equality and supporting a bill that excluded transgender individuals from workplace protections, it is by far the largest (and probably one of the most influential) pro-gay organizations in the city. So it seems unlikely that Mike, who wore a t-shirt, madras shorts, and flip flops to his interview, won’t raise awareness about LGBT rights simply by virtue of being at the HRC offices from time to time, regardless of whether or not queer issues are ever discussed in the house.

Though the Real World hasn't exactly been known for its enlightened political commentary in the past, one might expect a season set in D.C. to buck that trend. And yet the two episodes that have aired thus far have been almost completely devoid of political thought. Only Ashley introduced herself as interested in politics, and that was by professing her love for Barack Obama and saying that "left is right." Callie, an aspiring photographer, is ostensibly the token conservative on the show, but as soon as Ashley asked her about her political ideology, Callie seemed embarrassed, saying she didn't know. But Millennials are the most politically engaged generation since the Baby Boomers. In 2008, Millennials turned out to vote in the highest numbers since 18 year olds were granted the right to vote, and 66 percent voted for Obama. This season's Real World, with much ado about sex and sexuality, is oddly devoid of that perspective.

I'm disappointed that the Real World producers (or possibly, even the cast) are shying from the opportunity to open a discussion about how politics are affecting the lives of young people today. Mike's identity as a bisexual is inadvertently opening that discussion, but the discussion shouldn't stop there. There are plenty of LGBT issues debated in Congress and the rest of the political realm. So far, the outlook for connections to real-world Real World politics is grim. Here's hoping that the rest of this season will be a little more interesting, politically.

Kay Steiger is the editor of Campus Progress. Follow her on Twitter.

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Comments

1. So-called “Millennials” also distinguish themselves from older voters with regard to immigration. They have grown up in a much more diverse America where nationality (and even place, in an Internet world) is less significant than it may have been previously. This is good news for America’s troubled immigration system and the hostility it seems to breed with older, more anti-immigration oriented American voters. Recognizing this, the wise politicians who seek younger voters (and perhaps their loyalty for decades to come) are abandoning the harsh anti-immigration political line that many GOP leaders have fallen for…

   — GrayRiv - Jan 8, 03:17 PM - #
   
   

2. i lov you iam gay to

   — anthony - Jan 8, 04:59 PM - #