By Camila Crews
Over 30 thousand young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 line up to audition in major cities across America for their chance to be watched by millions of people week after week for years to come.
The question is, do people really look at the long-term effects of being involved in this reality television phoneme? Just think, not only are friends and family going to get an inside look into your psyche, but so are about 5.5 million strangers.
On Wednesday, January 15, Genesis Moss of The Real World Boston came to NU to give students the inside track of what it’s like to be on The Real World. If students were considering signing their lives over to MTV Networks and Bunim/Murray Productions, there are a few things they may want to consider.
One of those things being that cast members are required to wear their microphones at all times. This includes during phone conversations and other daily activities. Cast members are required to supply the production department with a daily itinerary, and if any adjustments are made to their schedules, production will need to know about it. One of the reasons for an itinerary is because production has to call ahead to the places to make sure the cameras are allowed inside. If the cameras are not allowed in then neither is the cast. This is true for places like night clubs and restaurants where a sign will be posted outside the establishment stating that Bunim/Murray Productions will be shooting on that day.
Montana of the Boston cast tried to fool production by telling them that she was going to the gym, when in actuality she was planning a mid-afternoon rendezvous with one of her boyfriends at the time, Matt. The production team called her at Matt’s house and moments later they kicked down his bedroom door to find Montana and Matt in their post-sex glow.
“Production used to tell us they had lojack installed in our microphones, but we don’t know if they were just screwing with us,” said Genesis.
On the positive side, the house is usually a posh pad. Who could forget the house in Hawaii, complete with swimming pool, jacuzzi and vacation locale, or New York, the 10th anniversary season, where they lived in a loft apartment in the center or New York City and worked at Arista Records. Yes, living rent-free is the way to go, but that’s where the gravy train ends. In order to make the show as reality based as possible, the cameras follow people around twenty-four hours a day. The refrigerator is not stocked for the cast’s disposal; the people in the house are responsible for buying their own food and also holding a position at the job that is appointed to them. Cast members are also allowed to get a second job if they feel the need to, and according to Genesis, Syrus, Sean and Montana all took on second jobs at Sam Adams while living in Boston.
The myth that the show is type cast is false, though hard to believe. Who can remember watching a Real World without a virgin, or a na
