The best exit interview ever.

Back when "The Real World" on MTV started, it was groundbreaking television. There were people from different walks of life, with different opinions, living together and being forced (on some level) to discuss their differences (thing how Obama made people have to notice race). On MTV in San Fran, one of the housemates, Pedro, was both openly gay and living with AIDS. Groundbreaking. It is fair to say that this kind of TV really appealed to me, and i most certainly contemplated applying to the show. I remember on my 26th birthday thinking, "Wow, now i'm too old to be on "The Real World." (The cut-off, at least then, was 25). I was sad and felt old.

But. Somewhere along the line, the show changed. I'm not sure exactly when this change occurred, probably gradually, i'm not entirely sure. But I am sure that Real World Las Vegas was symbolic of the completion of this change. This change i would say was from "the real world" to "the real soft core porn." Beautiful dumb people with extreme views and rock hard abs screwing each other like characters from 90210 (don't even think of asking me whether i mean the new one or the old one!). There was so much sex, silicon, screaming, threesomes, nudity, and sex that it could have been confused with Comedy Central's new show/masterbationfest "My Secret Girlfriend."

I say this all so as to set up the fact that at some point i stopped watching this show for the intellectual interest and it became my guilty pleasure. Then, inevitably, it just went too far (perhaps it was the emotional harassment of housemates in a recent season or the fact that I couldnt stand these kids getting recruited because of their likelihood of going ballistic and then the producers acting all blameless when violence and craziness broke out). I stopped watching. My girlfriend (who still loves the guilty pleasure of it) has taken to watching the Real World/Road Rules (which lets face it, hasn't existed in like a decade) Challenge. For those who haven't seen this cancer, it takes the crazies from the show, adds free booze and the promise of money, and then essentially lets them rip each other apart in every possible way: sexually, physically, emotionally. It's the definition of a hot shit-show mess.

In the last episode, which i watched a brief snippet of (it's like country music, i hate it, but it's so hard to change the channel), Brad (of course he's named Brad) is drunk, only has $2,000 to his name, and is on the apparent losing team. He is verbally berating a, relatively speaking, friend of his, who is on the winning team and has the most money ($33,000) to his name. Brad is taunting endlessly. Screaming about beating the shit out of him (what what? his friend?). There really is no motivation except frustration and stupidity. I should mention, that the ONLY ONLY ONLY ONLY rule that Real World has ever had is NO PHYSICAL VIOLENCE. Surprisingly, with such a lack of rules, many many many many "cast members" have been sent home for this (men and women). So Brad pushes the other guy (dont know his name). The guy finally snaps and pushes Brad back back back until he falls. Then this guy starts WAILing on him with punches to the face. Brad's eye is bleeding. Badly. He can't stand up. His drunk reaction. More violence. Running around the mansion throwing things. And like that, poof, they are kicked off. Uber sigh.

But here is the "punch-line" (pun intended). Brad gives his exit interview to the camera. He is incredibly sorry for his behavior. He was drunk. He LIKES the other guy. He says, "it is a shame." Oh, and his right eye is purple and SWOLLEN COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY SHUT!!! You are damn right he's sorry. He's sorry in that "i'm sorry i got my ass handed to me and i'm getting my cycloptic swollen eggplant looking face sent home broke like a joke." If i were writing a thesis on the slow disintegration of a once landmark show, this scene would be my conclusion sentence.

For the record, the guy who fought back and landed a number of $33K punches got send home too. He also interviewed that he liked Brad and was sorry it happened. Personally, i am mostly sorry that this dinosaur of a show wont extinct already.

Here's a pic of the damage: