You know there's always an unexpected twist (or two or three) with reality shows. That's what makes them...uh, real. Right?
In the manner of a train wreck (yeah, that's the analogy everyone uses to describe their [morbid] fascination with these kinds of shows), I watched about a half hour of NBC's 25 Million Dollar Hoax tonight before H decided that we could be doing better things. In that half hour, I see the girl spending all the money on herself and not her family, as per the producers' plan. Okay, fine, whatever. I don't think the $400K for her family in the end is worth it, but it's not me.
Meanwhile, we have end-of-the-day one-on-one shots with each family member, telling how they were disappointed/frustrated/angry/etc. over Chrissy spending all her money on herself and ignoring them--or worse, buying the things they wanted. They're telling the camera how angry they are, how upset they are, how they're trying to rationalize that it's her money. And then we have Chrissy all dolled up and crying over how she hates this, how it isn't her...but in the end it *is* about her and the money, even if it's not $25M. It just makes you wonder: is Chrissy really the only one in on this hoax?
Let's digest this for a minute.
First of all, we've got a complete character change in someone the family've known for 20-odd years and we the viewers have known for about an hour. Would she really ever tell her brother "You deserve to be poor"?
Second, there are cameras around. All the time. In fact, the family is never around Chrissy without one. Obviously they know it's reality TV, but shouldn't they suspect that it might not be "reality"?
Third, they're obviously being asked about how they feel about her spending all this money on herself. Isn't that kind of a tip-off? (And I do think they're being asked that directly because sometimes they repeat the question back again, i.e. "How do I feel about her spending all that money? Like crap. She's being...." etc.)
I don't want to call them stupid--they seem like genuinely nice people, and frankly they're not altogether convincing that they don't know what's going on. But they have to have some suspicions--edited out in the editing room, I'm sure. They can't be that dumb. Can they?
This would be the greatest time for NBC to be punking reality TV viewers. "Ha ha, we got you invested in a show that was a lie about the character, her family, and YOU." Then maybe the viewers would know how it felt to be the family in that kind of a situation.
I admit to watching the end of "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance" and hating every sleazy person who was in on the show, especially the girl. Her father told her, "It isn't about money." That's awesome. And frankly, I'm surprised it made it in the final cut. It's probably the only "real" thing I've ever seen on a reality TV show.
As for Chrissy, if this isn't a hoax on viewers and her family is genuinely hurt about this, then she's an awful person if they really believe she'd say and do these things. If the shoe fits....