Paradise Hotel

OK, I have a confession: I've been watching season two of Paradise Hotel. Most of you have probably not heard of Paradise Hotel; if you haven't, it's probably a good sign. This has to be one of the trashiest reality programs that I've ever seen. It runs on the Fox Reality Network (channel 250 for those of you who have direct TV) at 1:00am on Monday night / Tuesday morning. I think it repeats at other times as well. But I figure that the 1:00 am (that's EST) time slot tells us something about the quality of the programming. Oh, it opens with a disclaimer that's something along these lines: "This program may contain some nudity and / or sexual situations. Viewer discretion is advised." I always figure that saying, "Viewer discretion is advised" is really a way of trying to attract a certain demographic, i.e. 17 years olds. Oh, and me. I watch it too.

The premise is something like this: a dozen or so 20-somethings are isolated at the Paradise Hotel, a kind of tropical resort. They choose "room mates" of the opposite sex. There's always one extra man or woman, and the person without a room mate is eliminated. A day or two later, a new single enters the mix.

All that said, I'm really not trying to post a review or analysis of this really terrible program. Rather, I'm interested in considering why I watch it in the first place. And I am not up and about at 1:00am; I DVR the thing, so clearly, I'm going out of my way to watch it. In general, I think that many of us, myself included, like so-called reality TV and programs like Dr. Phil because these types of programs somehow make us feel better about ourselves. I think, for me anyway, it goes something like this: "Hey, *insert name* on Paradise Hotel is a real skank. And she's dumb. I can't believe that she doesn't have more self-respect than that. What a skanky loser!" On the one hand, this is clearly a variation on the old trick of putting others down so that we can feel better about ourselves. However, I think it goes beyond this. For me anyway, it's also about realizing that maybe my situation isn't as bad or overwhelming or hopeless or whatever as it sometimes feels. I was watching Dr. Phil earlier today, and it was more like this: "Yeah, sometimes I feel bad about myself, and sometimes I feel like a failure. And yeah, I do mess things up sometimes. But I should be thankful: my situation isn't as difficult or as painful as that of the recovering Heroin addict." I don't think this is making myself feel better at someone else's expense; rather I see it as simply acknowledging and being thankful for the obstacles that I'm not facing right now. It's a way of realizing that life could be a whole lot worse.

I don't know. I readily admit that I actually enjoy watching "reality" TV that I acknowledge to be not just dumb but objectionable. But somehow, it's like I can't stop looking, like the trainwreck cliche. But it goes beyond that. And I'm having a hard time really figuring out what the attraction is. Even worse than Paradise Hotel, IMO, is The Girls Next Door, which is actually about Hugh Heffner's three live-in girlfriends. I'll spare you any further discussion of Hef and the girls. But it's so terrible on just about every conceivable level. I certainly don't DVR it, but I have to confess to tuning in on occasion.