I don’t know if Amanda and her sister, a.k.a. “The Ass
Lady”, are full-blooded siblings but they could be twins, the physical
resemblance is so uncanny.
 |
| Nearly identical sisters, Amanda and Denise, chowing down on some baked goods while sharing a laugh about genital rejuvenation procedures. Classy. |
They also share similar interests as illustrated by
their fascinating and cerebral conversation about butt lifts, “junk lifts”, “foo-foo
tightening” and geriatric “screwing”.
 |
| Amanda yearns to be as "tight" as a "prom queen" & not as loose as a porn princess. Her sister is uncertain that this is possible at this stage in Amanda's life....hey now, don't shoot the messenger - this is their vulgarity, not Lala's. |
Moving on to Amanda’s career suitability – I know how
important “authenticity” is to her. She should therefore stop being such a
hypocrite by trying to be something she’s not and embrace her true calling: I
hear online porn and escort services are REALLY lucrative and Amanda, a self-proclaimed
“sex addict”, CLEARLY has a predisposition for this line of work:
 |
| Creepy butt lifter, Domenic, was pretty smitten with Amanda's body parts and would probably vouch for her if she decided to answer her calling. |
Ugh, Amanda isn’t even worth the time.
 |
| Propelled by Domenic, who says "we really need to party tonight", Amanda muses, "Tonight, I think I've got a hot butt". She is pleased by this. |
 |
| "I didn't tape anything in so we just have to be cautious". Then Amanda wonders aloud right before her nipple falls out, "Maybe I'm under-dressed?" She thinks about that for a second and decides with a cackle, "Nah, that couldn't be". Another "housewife" not in touch with reality? |
 |
| Amanda, again to Domenic: "You already saw my butt today, like do you need to see me COMPLETELY naked now?" Domenic replies with a lewd "okay", to which Amanda says, "I feel like someone wants to eat me". Hmm, I wonder where Kyle was on this particular night... |
 |
| Domenic to Amanda: “I gotta be honest, I looked at your butt and I couldn’t see anything that needed to be healed". Ugh. Women who fall for that crap are as repulsive as the men who deliver that crap. |
Moving on.
Ronnie is such a tragic figure it’s not even fun blogging about her any more. She just becomes so emotionally distraught over her role on a reality TV
series and how her character is negatively perceived that it might not be a good
idea, for the sake of her mental state,
to continue on the show.
 |
| Ronnie regarding the feuding & bullying that surrounds RHOV both on and off screen: “I'm stressed out. I can’t take it. I’m having an anxiety attack". |
By all accounts, she can’t handle the attention to the point where she is lashing out at RHOV fans in "real life", threatening to use her money and power to hunt them down at their homes and places of work. This is not a well human being. Is it even ethical to have her on the show if she is this psychologically unstable?
And if we are to accept that she is of sound mind, sweet fancy Moses,
what did she expect when she
agreed to put herself and her flaws out there for all to see? Did she think
nobody would notice her shortcomings and “evil” (her word, not mine) behavior because
they’d be so mesmerized by her
beauty? This reality show should be a reality check for her, especially.
 |
| Mary sticks up for Ronnie, saying she doesn't have a drinking problem (when obviously Ronnie does and denying that she does now leaves Mary vulnerable AGAIN to being called a liar, even though her intentions were honourable). Soon after, when Mary is now verbally and wrongly assaulted by Jody, Mary wants to know why Ronnie does not reciprocate in the defence of a friend. Ronnie's response: "What do I always need to be fighting someone’s battle for them; I’m sick of it". Tsk tsk. |
She reminds me of other out-of-touch
people who feel perfectly justified in saying
whatever insulting thing pops into their heads. They truly believe their faulty
opinions are correct and that they are doing others a favor by informing them of these opinions.
This kind of unfiltered, non-self-reflective, overbearing
personality often gets away with their unfair treatment of others because most
people are so taken aback by the unprovoked onslaught that they don’t have
enough time to react with anything other than stunned acquiescence.
You don’t realize you’ve been stung until the moment
has passed and the person who’s done the “stinging” is smugly walking away,
oblivious to your pain.
However, occasionally people like Ronnie DO get stung in
return by either a like-minded personality, or else a quick-witted one. And the
Ronnies of the world are ALWAYS surprised, shocked, dumbfounded…HURT – hugely hurt – by this reciprocation.
They cannot BELIEVE the audacity of someone to treat them in the exact same way they treat
others because they simply don’t see anything wrong with their own actions and
beliefs, even when those actions and beliefs are mirrored back to them and they
don’t like what they see. And when they don’t like what they see, they don’t
recognize themselves.
In other words, they are blind to what is staring them
right in their face, like an anorexic – also
known as Amanda’s ideal woman – who looks at her skeletal reflection and
all she sees is fat. It’s a disconnect of the mind.
Nevertheless, it’s possible
Ronnie maybe could be “fixed” if she did some sort of Eat, Pray, Love journey thing (even though I was not a fan of that
particular book which was yet another Oprah pick I couldn’t bring myself to
finish it was so corny, contrived, predictable, narcissistic and not relatable
AT ALL. Elizabeth Gilbert had a pretty nice life going for herself, and I
couldn’t grasp what was so bad that she was forced into a fetal position onto
her immaculately clean, expensively tiled bathroom floor…but I digress.. ).
On a more flattering note, for all my psycho-babbling
about Ronnie, I do enjoy some of her snarky commentary when she’s
not obsessing over Mary Zilba. Her assessment of the smarmy, somewhat sleazy, munchkin-looking, purple-shirted Domenic, his stripper-esque assistants and poorly plasticized
wife made me laugh…demonically. It was a demonic laugh.
 |
| Ronnie: "Domenic seemed to be a little on the flirtatious side, which surprises me because his wife was there...but she doesn't seem to mind". Domenic then turns to Amanda, right in front of his wife no less, and says, "I'm trying to be professional here, but it's really hard". Gross. Amanda likes it though and says with a sly smirk, "The vibe tonight is...predatory". I wonder if she later took him into the grotto he bragged would "make Hugh Hefner look weak" and audition some of her "skills" for him. Poor Joanne. |
What about Jody, though? Could SHE be “fixed” if she
went on a journey of self-discovery?
Lala thinks not. When you live in a funhouse maze, any journey you take
is going to lead you to dead ends and grossly distorted perceptions. It might
actually push you over the edge into complete madness.
Jody may not be completely mad as yet, but she’s close
to being certifiable. She is just so over-the-top delusional that how can anyone
give credence to anything she says or does? When she was on Top Chef Canada she
reminded me of a frigg’in Lalaloopsy doll:
 |
Jody Claman on getting all lalaloopsied up for Top Chef Canada : "I love hair and makeup. It’s a lot of work. I’m
a snow report. One inch base, 7 inches powder. Hello Whistler!” She then cackles. Hmm…that's kind of a weird thing to say...
|
Or a character from the Wizard of Oz:
 |
| Mary suggests to Jody that she take note of her "drunken daughter" Mia who is at risk of falling in the pool and drowning. Jody's nonsensical, witch-like reply? "You're going to have any aneurysm and die if you don't stop your bullshit". Huh? |
Really, Mary shouldn’t pay Jody any more heed than she would a Lalaloopsy or a fictional flying monkey. There is no point in
getting worked up over eccentric nuts who look like rag dolls and hang out with not fully evolved primates – they know not
what they do. They’re too crazy.
 |
| Another uncanny resemblance: Mary could be Dorothy and Jody, who hails from West Vancouver, could be the Wicked Witch of the... West...again, don't shoot the messenger. |
Speaking of delusional people, what about Robin? I like
Robin, but it annoys me how she plays both sides of the fence. She appears
inherently incapable of picking a “side” reminiscent of Reiko from the first
season and again, even though I’m getting sick of using this word and will have
to find a new one, comes across as mildly hypocritical or at least two-faced.
 |
| Robin: "I never said I didn’t like Ioulia – I do. I just wish she would recognize her…selfishness". Huh? WHAT is she babbling on about? |
First, she says Mary’s friendship is a “blessing” (and
this “inauthentic” religiosity or hokey spirituality of Robin’s also irritates
me, but that’s just me). Then later she
conspires against Mary with Amanda, the enemy! What treachery! If Robin doesn’t
stop it, she’s going to graduate from bystander to bully herself.
Finally, I’ll end with Ioulia. Could we love her any more?
What is it about her that is so likeable besides her aesthetics? (and Ronnie is gorgeous too so it’s not just looks).
I think for me it’s how Ioulia seems so unaffected by all the nonsense, while at
the same time doesn’t come across so utterly self-centered that the reason
she’s unaffected is merely because she doesn’t give a shit about anyone else
but herself. She can differentiate between what is silliness and not worth
getting upset about, and what is genuine hurt and injustice.
 |
Ioulia talking about Mary Zilba:” I’m completely proud
of her, she deserves a frick’in award for being brave and stepping out in the
spotlight, so good for her”.
|
I also admire how she sticks up for Mary not because
Ioulia is narrow-mindedly taking a side for ulterior motives, but because she
isn’t an idiot and can see what is what. This is what makes me think that
besides Mary, Ioulia is the wisest one out of the bunch. Plus, how can I not
like someone who goes after Amanda with such gusto? Seriously now.
 |
Ioulia, a heroine and an angel, says to Amanda: “No more little jokes about I’m flying coach or whatever – your
little comments are not going to be taken as jokes anymore. I don’t give a shit
about you – who the fuck are YOU?!” Excellent
work Ioulia!
|
Why, by the way, is Robin all the sudden saying these
disparaging things about Ioulia being “rude” and “abrasive”? I don’t
understand. Is it because she didn’t like Ioulia’s constructive criticism during
their singing rehearsal? Robin does not seem able to gage a person’s true
intentions, she really doesn’t, God bless
her. Poor thing. This just strengthens my view that Robin is not the most sparkly rhinestone in Jody's tiara.
 |
| Robin tells Amanda she can "handle Ioulia" but is concerned, as we all are, about the likelihood of Amanda's nipple falling out. Actually, much of the last part of episode 6 concentrates on whether Amanda will expose an areola, a nipple or an entire breast. Nobody can really take anything that comes out of Amanda's mouth seriously because of her little outfit there. |
Mia is a sparkly rhinestone, but not in any positive sense, she's so fake and ridiculous. She furthermore does not deserve much of
a mention this time around or really ever,
though she’s worthy of an afterthought, which is this: Josh referred to her,
his half-sister, as “the dirty one” – HAHA!!
 |
| Jody's drunken daughter. |
 |
| Mia, a caricature of her mother. |
I think that’s all I have to say about this episode of
the Real Housewives of Vancouver, but if you are interested in a more in-depth,
blow-by-blow recap with a few amusing, acerbic remarks thrown in for good
measure, Jesse Ferreras does a pretty good job:
Until next week then my friends…may your balaclavas be
warm and not too restricting, may your breasts remain firmly taped in place, your
butt lifted but no so high that it envelopes your brain, and may your junk, if
you have any, not sag so low that even Amanda would pass up an oral
invitation.
Tata, for now.
Another great recap! I am with you on giving Robin the side eye. I am starting to think that the inauthentic talk that Amanda gave Mary should have been directed at Robin. I am reserving high hopes for her, though.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was hilarious when Ronnie called you demonic and then I realized how sad it was. This woman is so far into her delusional world that she has no idea how her behavior could be conceived as anything but angelic. I would not be surprised if there is some borderline personality disorder going on there. The way she expects everything to be black or white. The way she starts these things like telling Mary that Jody isn't really jewish or that Jody sells second hand and fake haute couture and then turning around and saying that Mary is the one who said those things is pretty sick and twisted. That is something that an ex friend of mine who has been diagnosed with borderline would do. They have no way to perceive reality correctly outside of themselves. Ronnie's ability to turn on Mary at the drop of a hat for no apparent reason is also reflective of my bpd friend's behavior. It is a very frustrating and sad disorder to deal with and Mary should thank her lucky stars that she has been given such a clear cut out of that situation.
I will say this, though. When I was hoping to salvage my friendship with the BPD person, I did some research and the thing that is heartbreaking about it is that a person with borderline is FULL of pain and all of their symptoms come from some type of pain and the reason they are so far into a delusional world and have a hard time reading reality correctly is because of how much pain they are in. If it didn't make him act so heinously, I would do anything I could to help my friend, but the situation was just too toxic for me and I couldn't risk my own mental health for his. :( That is, unfortunately, the only way Mary will be able to resolve that friendship. Many BPDs self medicate with alcohol and pills, btw.
The thing that is most upsetting to me about the whole BPD situation is how often I observed the fact that a lot of people are willing to JUMP at the chance to enable somebody with a personality disorder. I don't get it and I never will. Unfortunately, Ronnie doesn't seem like she will ever run out of those. The thing is that BPDs create co-dependents all around them. They have to. And I would put money on the fact that she probably did that with her sons and her husband and many of her friends. I definitely see the codependency she created in Mary. When you start to break away from a codependency with somebody who built that codependency cage around you, they lash out at you and fell betrayed by you. Ronnie's behavior just feels very familiar and like classic borderline behavior to me. :(
Amanda is as infuriating as Jody and that is all I have to say about those idiots.
I love Ioulia so far, too! However, I have noticed that even though she doesn't bash Mary on Twitter, thank goodness, she does show a lot and I mean A LOT of love for Amanda, Jody, Mia and Ronnie while regularly ignoring Mary. I mean it almost seems like she is kissing up a little bit. I am thinking that she probably stops sticking up for Mary based on how things are now. That makes me more sad than I care to admit.
Your demonic smile line made me laugh heartily.
Haha! The demonic line made me snicker when I wrote it, too. So stupid. ;-)
DeleteThat’s too bad about Ioulia. Maybe I got a little carried away with the praise? The thing with these shows is that there is a very real likelihood we at least initially won’t get an entirely accurate picture of the cast. The show mashes together bits and pieces of these women’s lives like a collage, often placing unrelated events side-by-side, making it seem like these events are intricately related when maybe they’re not and perhaps didn’t even happen on the same day. Of course the show has to do this because we can’t be watching these people 24 hours a day unless we’re mentally unstable ourselves I guess.
I remember years ago with the very first Big Brother episode – the only one I ever followed actually – and you COULD watch for free the cast 24 hours a day on the internet. I personally didn’t go that far, but I know someone who became so obsessed that first season of Big Brother – it was just so novel and exciting, this new voyeuristic form of entertainment – that she WOULD spend all her waking hours watching, discussing, debating, betting on, and analyzing Big Brother online.
She would often remark afterwards that what was presented to viewers during the week on TV and what she saw in real time online were not always the same thing – the show was masterful at skewing things ever so slightly, putting the spotlight on certain scenarios or people while ignoring others, or, as above, matching unrelated events together so that viewers were in a sense manipulated or “led” like sheep to draw conclusions the producers WANTED them to draw. And I’m sure this is what all reality television does.
On the other hand, have you ever heard of Dr. John Gottman, “thin-slicing” and SPAFF (the Specific Affect Coding System)? Basically, researcher, Dr. Gottman, has shown that with a little intuition & skill, it is possible to draw accurate conclusions and predications regarding human relationships based on very little information, through analyzing conversations between people and identifying patterns in their behavior, speech and mannerisms, as well as the level of contempt, if any, towards the other person.
It does take some skill, though, and you have to be “in tune” with your own instincts, as often what seems on the surface as negative is actually positive and vice versa. You aren’t even necessarily noting the actual words used, so much as you are noting the way in which those words are delivered and received.
ANYHOW (good grief do I ever babble on!) because of this thin-slicing theory I DO think with close attention, insight, ability and also if you even cared to (which really, why WOULD we care to seriously scrutinize a reality TV show like this?), it’s possible to come up with reasonably accurate personality profiles on these ladies.
So well put, and I completely agree. I think that the voyeuristic element to twitter is probably the closest we now have to the ability to watch them on camera off the show (I have never seen Big Brother but I do remember the hype about that 24/7 camera thing). I see things on twitter with this cast that definitely reflects how they come off on the show. I am absolutely sure that there is creative editing that makes some things appear differently to create more drama, however, I don't think that it changes a lot with these ladies. For example, Ronnie knows how sneaky the editing is, yet refuses to ever let Mary off the hook on twitter when it comes to the editing, yet yells at everybody who dares to give her the smallest of criticisms about how editing makes her look bad. It is truly delusional. She is the only one affected by editing. I think she has actually defended Jody regarding the editing, as well. Her personality on twitter shows otherwise, though. She does and says the exact same kinds of things and overreacts in the same exact way she does on the show.
ReplyDeleteBack to the editing, though. I will say that there are a few things that they are doing to enhance the bullying drama that makes me very uncomfortable. For example, Ronnie said on twitter that she did hug Mary after the anthems were sung and told her how well she did. This was confirmed by Robin and Mashia. So, the show edited it to make it look like Ronnie never said a word to Mary after she sang. Of course, it IS Ronnie, so we have no way of knowing if Ronnie didn't also throw a little dig at Mary when she did it, too. But the fact that they edited that out to make Mary look more left out and bullied was not right. The editors and producers of this show continue to make me question their morals and ethics. This is the cruelest HW show by far and they seem to only fan the flames and encourage the bullying. I am sure that Bravo does the same kinds of things, but this gets taken further than any other HW show ever does.
What you say about "thin-slicing" is fascinating and makes total sense to me. I think it is very rare, that even though these shows are edited in a very sneaky way, that we aren't seeing their real personalities coming through. Again, twitter is a very good litmus test for this and all of the housewives seem to be exactly the same on their twitters. Especially whey they TWE (Tweet While Emotional). That also made me remember this old blog, but still so very fascinating to read, www.angelofdevs.wordpress.com. I would love for the author of that blog to watch RHOV and give her armchair diagnoses to these ladies.
Wow, what a great blog and definitive yet concise assessment! Everything she wrote could easily be applied to RHOV. Wise lady :-)
DeleteThat’s interesting about Ronnie hugging and supporting Mary and Slice not showing that part. Like I keep saying, there has to be positive things about Ronnie we aren’t shown, otherwise how could Mary keep calling her a friend (albeit an on and off friend)?