This week we hit a somber cultural milestone by packaging potential sex crimes for our reality TV entertainment.
Once upon a time, Bravo’s Below Deck, which aired in 2013, was a reality show at its finest – an upstairs, downstairs look at the world of luxury yachting, with exotic locations, beautiful staff and eccentric guests.
It became such a hit that there are now three spin-offs – Below Deck Mediterranean, Below Deck Sailing Yacht, and Below Deck Down Under, with each season and repeat building the scandalous behavior.
Make no mistake, those behind Below Deck: Down Under now have two sides: the production team is delighted at having cleared the very low hurdle of stopping two alleged sex offenders, while still earning high ratings and free publicity.
It’s disgusting and awful. No wonder Bravo didn’t say anything.
Ditto for Bravo mascot Andy Cohen, who hosts the nightly after-show, Watch What Happens Live.
You’d think he’d do a winning lap. Instead: grilling.
This week we hit a somber cultural milestone by packaging potential sex crimes for our reality TV entertainment.
Make no mistake, those behind Below Deck: Down Under now have two sides: the production team is delighted at having cleared the very low hurdle of stopping two alleged sex offenders, while still earning high ratings and free publicity.
Imagine the discussions that took place behind the scenes in real time, the decisions made in the editing room, the moment Boatswain Luke Jones climbed into bed with stewardess Margot Sisson – who was drunk and before her retirement had said: “All I want is water and…” bed. No, Luke.’
Imagine the almost certain frantic pace of calls between producers and cameramen, a back-and-forth that no doubt went like this:
are we interrupting? If so, when? Should the cameraman put down his camera to physically intervene, or does he have to keep filming and taking his shots?
Spectators, they continued to film. Naturally.
Not a moment was missed as Luke, with a crooked grin, sauntered naked through the hallways and crouched in Margot’s bed, his back to him and the cameras, without noticing. From the off, we hear a male voice gently chiding Luke.
“Hey, hey! Hey buddy . . . Hey!’
Luke has his back to the camera. Margot is barely visible next to him.
“Luke, we need to get you down.” The voice is light, almost laughing.
“Thank you,” Luke says curtly. He is immobile.
“Huh?” says Margot.
One could argue that the production was trying to de-escalate the situation. Possibly. But as a female viewer, I found the lack of gravity alarming.
Then we hear Luke ask Margot how drunk she is, “Are you a 9 out of 10 or a 10 out of 10?”
He did that in front of the camera. Imagine what he is capable of.
Imagine the discussions that took place behind the scenes in real time, the decisions made in the editing room, the moment Boatswain Luke Jones climbed into bed with stewardess Margot Sisson – who was drunk and before her retirement had said: “All I want is water and…” bed. No, Luke.’
Not a moment was missed as Luke, with a crooked grin, sauntered naked through the hallways and crouched in Margot’s bed, his back to him and the cameras, without noticing. “Luke, we need to get you down.” The voice is light, almost laughing.
The production tells Luke to leave again, and he climbs down from Margot’s top bunk, looks straight at the camera crew and slams the cabin door in their faces – not just once, but three times.
This is the end of the episode, our cliffhanger: is this young woman about to be raped?
Why don’t we discuss this profanity – a potential storytelling attack? For dramatic reasons?
Why don’t we discuss the revictimization of Margot, who had no memory of that night and must now join the whole world in watching it unfold?
Here’s another question: Without #MeToo, would Bravo have allowed things to turn out differently? Certainly there was a time when they did.
On a 2009 episode of the network’s “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” actress Tamra openly planned to “get naked” fellow star Gretchen.
At the time, Gretchen had a dying fiancé. She actually got drunk at Tamra’s party that night, and the cast and crew watched as Tamra’s creepy son, Ryan, followed a drunk Gretchen into the bathroom and tried to take advantage of her.
There was no backlash for this. Or for sister show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which uses as its storyline the alleged domestic violence suffered by actress Taylor, or the subsequent suicide of her accused husband Russell.
No, instead it guaranteed Taylor a second season, a standout storyline, and a book deal.
It’s not a good past: Filming of a new season of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip was reportedly recently halted when cast member Brandi Glanville was sent home after allegedly groping a fellow cast member’s breasts and crotch.
Divorce, alcoholism, drug addiction, mental breakdowns, domestic violence, and now sexual assault are just stuff for an act commodified for our voyeuristic, sadistic viewing pleasure.
On the other hand – let’s see how much of this attack radiates Bravo.
Sure, the Below Deck scandal feels dangerous, but not for the reasons one might think. It is a turning point that further coarsens the culture.
Personal dignity increasingly means nothing when it leads to fleeting reality show fame, a few dopamine hits of attention, and perhaps the opening of a new revenue stream. It’s no wonder producers seem to be looking for people with personality disorders, low IQs, or non-existent personal boundaries.
Or that they make alcohol easily accessible and encourage the kind of drinking that leads to great disinhibition.
One could argue that the production was trying to de-escalate the situation. Possibly. But as a female viewer, I found the lack of gravity alarming. He did that in front of the camera. Imagine what he is capable of.
Why don’t we discuss the revictimization of Margot, who had no memory of that night and must now join the whole world in watching it unfold?
The only surprise about the looming lawsuit against Bravo and parent company NBCUniversal is that it’s taken so long.
A letter sent Aug. 3 by attorneys for several reality stars alleges the distribution of non-consensual porn, deprivation of food and sleep to encourage unstable behavior, denial of psychiatric services even when obviously necessary, the cover-up sexual assault and preventing performers from leaving the company maintains their own shows no matter how much they want it.
So don’t be fooled by the celebration of the Below Deck production team here.
Also, keep in mind that the high praise casters Aesha Scott and Captain Jason Chambers get for their intervention and ending Luke is disproportionate. You did the right thing, the only thing. But we are so unaccustomed to seeing it that it has become a moment of great bravery.
We live in The Hunger Games, sexual exploitation and violence are presented as drama, nudity and sex on camera are normal and expected. Suicides are collateral damage – just look at Love Island UK, which has had three on-screen actor suicides in five years.
Here’s one more question: why do we have to see the cast of Below Deck—lowly paid cast members, by the way—changing in their dressing rooms? There is another zero than the tickle.
The next Below Deck episode, following the heinous won’t-he-want-he-cliffhanger, begins with an equally disturbing scene: stewardess Laura Bilesklane openly sexually molesting male deckhand Adam Kodra – the we tell Laura emphatically. The answer is NO!’ – follows him to his cabin and closes the door behind him.
“Where’s your bed?” she asks him.
“I have to kick your ass out,” he tells her.
Adam, also drunk, climbs into his bunk and lies face down. Cameras capture Laura climbing on top of him with an open tube of lotion and beginning to massage his back and shoulders.
Again, the producers gently urge Laura to come down. She stops and rubs Adam and kisses him on both cheeks before finally leaving.
The next morning, Laura verbally picks Margot apart and blames her for getting Luke fired. Laura is also terminated at the end of this episode, but what’s frustrating is that her rampages – she literally hangs around Luke all over the place and rubs up against him while he repeatedly tells her to leave him alone in front of other people and cameras rolling let The answer is no, he never wants to have sex with her – was treated as a trifle. Comic relief.
This so-called enlightened production obviously didn’t take women’s aggression toward men that seriously.
The next “Below Deck” episode begins with an equally disturbing scene: stewardess Laura Bilesklane, who openly sexually harasses male deckhand Adam Kodra, follows him to his cabin and closes the door behind her. Cameras capture Laura climbing on top of him with an open tube of lotion and beginning to massage his back and shoulders.
Again, the producers gently urge Laura to come down. She stops and rubs Adam and kisses him on both cheeks before finally leaving. This so-called enlightened production obviously didn’t take women’s aggression toward men that seriously.
Luke decides to leave the boat in a t-shirt that reads “Break Free,” a clear thank you to the captain, crew, spectators, and most importantly, Margot.
If Bravo and NBCU took this seriously, they never would have aired half of this stuff.
As we continue to be fed articles about the significance of these episodes and the heroism of those who intervened and how nobody ever deserves to be a victim, no matter how drunk or flirty or whatever, consider this: Im Midseason trailer that airs immediately after these two episodes shows us Luke’s replacement Joao Franco, a “Below Deck” veteran who has a female crew member “ac**k-juggling Thunderc**t” and once another female “an Russian prostitutes”.
As for Margot’s plot? After those episodes ended with the words “I feel safe – cared for,” the trailer shows how Margot is portrayed as a sexually promiscuous drunk who may or may not be fired herself.
This is reality TV for you: trust nobody and nothing, not even what you see with your own eyes.