I just finished watching the season 1 finale of #RichKids of Beverly Hills.
By now you're probably at least familiar with the show, which has debuted amid a flurry of controversy. As its name suggests, the show is about rich twenty-somethings doing rich people things: yachting, shopping, drinking champagne. I really didn't want to like it, and I will admit that I had yet to form a solid opinion as the final episode aired. (We don't know yet whether it will be renewed for a second season.) I knew that it kept my interest, but I wasn't sure whether it was train-wreck type interest or genuine approval.
When the media came after the series, berating the cast for flaunting their wealth and being generally unaware of real people problems, the cast members took to the daytime talk-show circuit. "It's not supposed to be taken seriously," said show star Morgan Stewart. "It's supposed to be entertaining."
My biggest gripe from the beginning was that I didn't think the cast was particularly entertaining, but somewhere around episode 4, they hit their strides. Stewart became less self-conscious in front of the camera and a story line emerged. Ok, so they had, at least in my opinion, done what they set out to do--entertain. So what then, of the question of whether the show is basically good or basically evil? Is its entertainment value outweighed by its place in the cloud of television promoting excess, disregard for humankind, and egoism?
In the finale, the cast makes its way to Las Vegas to spend New Year's Eve partying. I might be partial since this is my town, but the show portrayed exactly what I like about Vegas. The cast was really real for a moment. Despite all the pleasures to which they have free access on a daily basis because of their wealth, Vegas disarmed them. They drank to excess and danced on tables, they wore sequins, and they ate at Nobu. And these are all things I find, albeit patronizingly, charming about all the normal people who come to my city.
Concurrently, each of the main cast members seemed to be finally, slowly evolving from static party girl to quasi-adult. Stewart made the difficult decision not to cohabitate with her longtime boyfriend because her mother advised against it. Roxy Sowlaty admitted that being cut-off by her parents had actually been a good thing since it propelled her to begin a business. And even perpetually smug Dorothy Wang proclaimed that the best thing about the season was knowing she had loyal friends by her side. These are the types of realizations that we all have, regardless of our tax bracket. This is what differentiates trash from treasure. And this is why I'm rooting for a season two.
PS- Look out for my blog later this week about a fabulous show called Cougar Wives. I know! It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?
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