We Don’t Need Influencers on Reality TV
It’s no secret that social media has been a huge factor in the disintegration of society. It is a cesspool of everything wrong with society, from alt-right political propaganda to misleading advertising to emboldening the wrong people who get catapulted to fame. Influencers are a huge factor in why social media is so toxic, and they are worse than nepo babies when it comes to getting recognized for marginal talent at best. Creativity is eclipsed by follower counts, and now culture is crumbling to something more soulless and hollow, as clout chasers who have little charisma and actual style (dis)grace red carpets and runways. The disintegration of morality, mental health, and culture is obviously harrowing, but worst of all, influencers are ruining reality television, and it’s time to talk about it.
Influencers Are Insincere
This season of Summer House, influencer Lexi Wood has made her debut as Jesse Solomon’s situationship. She’s had a successful modeling career, but is more known as an influencer with over a million followers, but suspiciously low engagement and that means she’s likely purchasing a significant chunk of her following. It was surprising to hear her say that she’s 27 years old because she comes off as extremely young. It’s not that she has a babyface or has this youthful, uninhibited spirit, but rather she doesn’t seem to have much of a formed identity. Lexi’s only character trait is that she can “get jealous” because she doesn’t want Jesse disrespecting her boundaries by sleeping with other girls or commenting overly flirtatious stuff on their Instagram pics. That’s not even jealousy, and it’s sad to see that Lexi is diminishing herself by labeling her needs as a negative character trait. It’s almost like she’s scared to exist as someone who takes up space and deserves to have a voice in a relationship. Jesse seems to be carrying the weight of giving us good television by being, well, his usual self-sabotaging self by pursuing housemate Ciara Miller and having group sex with girls who aren’t Lexi. Meanwhile, Lexi is hyper-aware of how she’s coming off and isn’t very memorable.
Lexi probably makes more money than most of the cast, so what is she even doing there? While it’s difficult to integrate into an already established cast, she seems to be incredibly curated and conducts herself with affectations and mannerisms like she’s very self-conscious, and she’s not resonating with the audience. Venita Aspen of Southern Charm is another example of an influencer who has had trouble standing out on her show. While that’s not an easy task as the only black woman on the cast, you can’t help but think that maybe the minds behind the show should maybe cast someone who already was integrated into the cast. Whenever she attempts to have a plotline, it just comes off as an insincere ploy to get camera time. This kind of behavior is endemic to influencers and why they have careers where they meticulously curate the public’s perception of them. Influencers like Lexi in particular exist to be anthropomorphic advertisements and are rewarded for chasing trends and pandering to algorithms instead of having somewhat calcified identities, and it’s not fun at all to watch. While that isn’t an enviable existence, it’s difficult to give them much empathy considering they are given far too much power and money compared to talented, hardworking people who have skills that were once considered lucrative. While I have no problem rooting for Lexi or Venita to develop confidence, I would rather they not do that on my television screen.
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The Influencer Infestation
Some reality shows have taken to only hiring influencers, and it’s not a great investment considering there’s always just one cast member that carries the show. Francesca Farago of Too Hot To Handle fame was the best part of her season, but that wasn’t hard for her to do because the cast was all influencers. Regardless of her charisma, she refused to participate in the game for the prize money because she made way more money posting one Instagram, which is insulting to viewers. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives had a great first season, but if those girls didn’t have Taylor Frankie Paul carrying the show, they would be terrible reality television.
Reality stars becoming influencers is an inevitability because how many times can you go on a dating show until it becomes sketchy (side eye Harry Jowsey and Casey O’Gorman). That’s acceptable, but the inverse is so annoying. Those who cater to an algorithim by being entertaining for thirty second increments that are highly edited and curated do not translate well to reality television. Reality television is an escape where we disconnect from the mundane and watch chaos unfold. As the country’s collective consciousness is being eroded by the toxicity of social media, the last thing people want to see is another influencer on their favorite reality show.
