The Art of the Famewhore

January 25, 2010 11:01 AM

Performance artist goes on VH1 realty show Frank the Entertainer intending to maintain her character (warning: sound plays upon loading), but finds that having cameras in your face 24/7 isn't so easy.

VH1 sees her blog post and responds.

posted by mandymanwasregistered (42 comments total)

I don't watch the show (or really any of the VH1 reality TV fare), but I liked Annie's blog post very much.
posted by muddgirl at 11:10 AM on January 25, 2010

Kill your television.

No really, do. It's doing you no good.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 11:12 AM on January 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

what?
posted by joelf at 11:12 AM on January 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Database error. Unable to connect to database. On that last link
posted by spicynuts at 11:14 AM on January 25, 2010

So, I don't get it. Does VH1 gladly accept that reality shows are anything but? The blog posts seem like the author expects everyone to be in on the joke. Has that always been the case?
posted by Think_Long at 11:14 AM on January 25, 2010

Is anyone NOT in on the joke? I can imagine that some people expected, say, the very first season of The Bachelor to be genuine and un-ironic, but at this point there's no way anyone who watches reality shows does so because they think that the contestants are uniformly genuine.
posted by muddgirl at 11:18 AM on January 25, 2010

bust.com isn't ready for fame either.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 11:21 AM on January 25, 2010

I would be surprised to find out anyone thinks that most reality shows are in any way close to being "real". Interesting though, to attempt to play a character on one of these shows and then discover that it's not so easy.

Not interesting enough for me to watch an episode though.
posted by utsutsu at 11:22 AM on January 25, 2010

Also on ohnotheydidn't (since bust seems to be down for the moment)
posted by speicus at 11:25 AM on January 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

spicynuts: "Database error. Unable to connect to database. On that last link"

Oh I see. It's performance art teaching us that that having a website in your face 24/7 isn't so easy, also.
posted by Plutor at 11:26 AM on January 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Great, my first fpp and a link dies. That's what I get for linking to the original source rather than ONTD.
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 11:28 AM on January 25, 2010

Lol, Coral Cache has cached the "unable to connect" response. That'll teach her to serve an error with a 200 OK.
posted by Nelson at 11:48 AM on January 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

<tinfoil hat>
some part of me thinks she's some kind of pr sleeper agent for the show precisely so they can go "see, even this girl that wanted to show how fake this was is for is keepin it real. that's how totally real this is"
</tinfoil hat>
posted by juv3nal at 11:53 AM on January 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Here is the Bust blog post written by Annie reproduced in its entirety at ONTD.
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 12:03 PM on January 25, 2010

That was a pretty good blog post. I'm looking forward to reading her further thoughts.
posted by carsonb at 12:06 PM on January 25, 2010

It's been interesting to watch the development of Reality Television, which must be one of the most misnamed genres in television history. When it first came about, people who had been on the shows would complain, wait, no, I'm not like they showed me at all. They specifically edited the show to create a character and to create dramas that didn't exist. But audiences were pretty naive back then, and would respond: it's right there on camera! How can you deny that this is who you are, and that is what you did?

But now there is so much reality teevee, and so many people have participated, and so many of them have been public with their experiences, that I think audiences are starting to see the contrivances and manipulations, and are seeing how reality teevee isn't so much a documentary of a specific group of people in a specific time, but instead an improvised fiction, created unknowingly by the people on camera and crafted by the people behind the camera.

There will be a time when every single one of us will be on a reality show, and so every one of us will know it to be false. How do I know this is true? Because I have already been a contestant.

What I am curios about is how popular the shows will be once we know them to be fiction. I suspect they will still be popular.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:08 PM on January 25, 2010

'Cewebrity'? Mother of god.
posted by Sebmojo at 12:18 PM on January 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

For the past two weeks, The Soup has included clips from this show (last week even prominently featured Ann, I think), and each time, I had no idea what the show actually was.
posted by graventy at 12:21 PM on January 25, 2010

I bet that Leslie Hall could have stayed in character. And it would have been a lot funnier.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:30 PM on January 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

This is a big break for realty shows! Finally breaking free from their traditional homes on A&E and HGTV, realty shows are finally getting the pop culture treatment they deserve!
posted by parmanparman at 12:34 PM on January 25, 2010

The sad paradox of reality TV
posted by The Whelk at 12:39 PM on January 25, 2010

Kill your television

Is this something I'd need to own a TV to understand?
posted by scalefree at 12:42 PM on January 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

I fail to see how this girl is any different than the hundreds of others that show up on programs like this.

Other than her pseudo-intellectual justification, to wit, "a satire on a genre that is already a satire of itself", she seems like just another I-wanna-be-on-TV-to-further-my-career girl, only instead of being a "model", she's an "artist"
posted by madajb at 12:56 PM on January 25, 2010 [3 favorites]

I was hoping you meant Phranc (NSFW)
posted by toodleydoodley at 12:57 PM on January 25, 2010

Doesn't the VH1 blog writer make the same point, madajb?

I think the interesting thing is that, without the initial false performance, someone like Annie (in looks, in personality) would not be cast on that type of show. Maybe there's enough material in there for a highlight reel, but my guess is that the producers are going to get rid of her as soon as possible.
posted by muddgirl at 12:59 PM on January 25, 2010

What other things can you be a -whore of? I am only familiar with the original kind, the moneywhore. Though recently I've discovered there are attentionwhores and famewhores and the like.
posted by Eideteker at 1:01 PM on January 25, 2010

muddgirl -

I got the impression that the VH1 person was surprised it had taken so long.
posted by madajb at 1:17 PM on January 25, 2010

Kill your television.

Ned's Atomic Dustbin, FTW.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:37 PM on January 25, 2010

Performance artist is neurotic and confused attention seeker. News at 11.
posted by unSane at 1:38 PM on January 25, 2010 [2 favorites]

She has been very funny on the show and definitely something seriously was awkward. Makes more sense now.
posted by leemfrank at 1:45 PM on January 25, 2010

They hand out MFAs for performance art now?
posted by Ghidorah at 2:11 PM on January 25, 2010

They hand out MFAs for performance art now?
Sure they do, but she misused the term performative, so I don't think she should get one.
posted by jrb223 at 2:50 PM on January 25, 2010

This is pretty much exactly the plot of a Mission Hill episode from 2002.
posted by designbot at 5:08 PM on January 25, 2010

so she went in more or less making fun of it, and then fell for the guy and wanted to compete for real. What a sell out.
posted by djduckie at 5:29 PM on January 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Though recently I've discovered there are attentionwhores and famewhores and the like.

Buy me a drink and I'll explain what a goodbeerwhore is.
posted by rusty at 5:37 PM on January 25, 2010

Why is it still okay to use the word "whore" as an insult or in a derogatory way? It seems pretty misogynistic in that it's rooted in a paternalistic disapproval of how a woman chooses to use her body. And to continue to use it as an insult only continues this implicit suggestion that women who use their bodies as they like are immoral and deserving of condemnation. Yet I see a lot of intelligent women, some who even call themselves feminists, using it.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 6:00 PM on January 25, 2010

I had no idea who "Frank the Entertainer" was, and so was surprised to read this:

You may also recognize me from Vh1 and 51 Minds latest attempt at facilitating (or perhaps simulating) romance for audience pleasure: Frank the Entertainer…In a Basement Affair. Basement Affair places fifteen women in a house vying for the attention of Frank “The Entertainer” Maresca, a thirty two year old contestant from I Love New York 2 and I Love Money

I do recognize the title "I Love New York 2". Well, actually, I recognize the title "I Love New York" (though I have never seen either the original or "2").

Am I to understand that "Basement Affair" is a show about people contesting to win the heart of a contestant from the second season of a show about people contesting to win the heart of a contestant from a show about people contesting to win the heart of Flavor Flav?

Also: "I Love Money"? Seriously?
posted by Flunkie at 6:50 PM on January 25, 2010

I really went in wanting to like her -- I am totally willing to get on board with someone who'll embrace the famewhores if only because most thinking people dismiss reality TV girls and in a way I kind of appreciate the honesty of those vh1 gals (even if I can't watch the shows)* -- but in a way it doesn't really seem like there's much of a distinction between someone being a performance artist on a reality show and the way people usually perform on reality shows (...I hope?). Plus I got confused here:

I wanted to legitimately compete in a game for his affections (rather than camera time) because I believed that would be the most ridiculous thing to do. And that was what no one else was really doing.

Is she saying she really likes him or is she saying that she is taking the premise of the show seriously to show how ridiculous it actually is? I read it a couple of times and it seems like a great hook but I can't really figure out what her point is. I'm intrigued.

*Not trying to distance myself, I watch American Idol, so I have no pop culture "cred" to gain here.
posted by SoftRain at 7:36 PM on January 25, 2010

it doesn't really seem like there's much of a distinction between someone being a performance artist on a reality show and the way people usually perform on reality shows

I think that is (part of) her point. That deriding reality shows as "fake" is kind of moot since it's a fakeness we all engage in anyway. That the most real thing to do might be to just be upfront about being fake. That even if you try to be fake 24/7 you won't be able to keep it up, and someone will catch you in a sincere moment eventually.

Is she saying she really likes him or is she saying that she is taking the premise of the show seriously to show how ridiculous it actually is?

Yes.
posted by speicus at 8:22 PM on January 25, 2010

designbot: This is pretty much exactly the plot of a Mission Hill episode from 2002.

Also, a Family Guy episode from 2005.
posted by Pronoiac at 3:01 AM on January 26, 2010

What other things can you be a -whore of? I am only familiar with the original kind, the moneywhore.

Junkiewhores
- Cokewhore
- Crackwhore
- Smackwhore

Emotionalwhores
- Dramawhore
- Famewhore
- Attentionwhore

Materialwhores
- Dinnerwhore
- Shoewhore
- Labelwhore

Mediawhores
- Camwhore
- Myspacewhore
- Twitterwhore
- Facebookwhore

Gameswhore
- Pokemonwhore
- Magicthegatheringwhore

Why is it still okay to use the word "whore" as an insult or in a derogatory way?

I don't think it is "OK" but I forgot who sets the rules ...

I do think there was an attempt by feminists to "reclaim" the word "whore."
posted by mrgrimm at 12:13 PM on January 26, 2010

Update! Shaming Famewhores Part II: On Being a Failed Famewhore
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 1:18 PM on February 22, 2010