Superficial Joe?

I’m a reality show addict. I doubt this is the first time I’ve ever mentioned that, and oddly enough, no matter how silly or stupid the concept of most reality shows seem to be, if I have an hour to spare I usually find myself getting hooked. As long as I have nothing better to do I’m not that discriminating with the shows that satiate my reality TV craving, which would explain the number of episodes of For Love or Money and Outback Jack I’ve watched. I think there’s something in these shows that satisfies our natural voyeuristic tendencies that enjoy getting glimpses into someone else’s emotions and problems. After all, on some sublevel of our consciousness (whether we choose to admit it or not) I’m sure we can all relate to the things these people go through. The only difference is they choose to go through them in front of strangers.

Far be it from me to be judgmental. I can’t pretend to know why people choose to subject themselves to going under the microscope in the hopes of finding love (yeah, right), in the admirable attempt to win a million dollars, or in the ridiculous setup of having to choose one or the other. I know I sound like a skeptic, but I admit, not all reality shows are crap though the only one I would ever consider joining is The Amazing Race. Several of them hit on themes that a lot of people spend most of their time thinking about – love, money, career. It’s only natural that these shows become hits. After all, the compassionate and sadistic sides in all of us secretly want some of those reality show participants to succeed, just like we want some of them to fall flat on their asses.

Which brings me to my current point of rumination. One reality show I’ve been able to catch recently (as it’s on early Sunday evening) is Average Joe. I’m sure everyone knows what I’m talking about – that dating show, which centers on a gorgeous girl in a mansion who’s told she’s there to possibly meet her prince charming. Then, when she’s all excited about meeting a plethora of good-looking smart gentlemen (yes, just like in reality) they bring in a bunch of regular Joe Schmoes worlds away from the Adonises’ she’s expecting. The premise of the show – beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The producers wanted to see if this physically endowed princess might be able to look past the exterior and fall in love with the stellar personalities of the not-so physically endowed males. Then in the middle of things, when the regular guys are starting to feel comfortable, they bring in a shipload of hunky male model types and throw them into the mix, seeing if personality can indeed win out over looks in the end.

Simple right? And when I first heard it, I was as sure these so-called average Joes would be about as successful as white leather pants. Call me a cynic, but let’s be real folks. These people spend about a month or so together – tops. Can one really surmise another’s personality in that amount of time? Especially if they all live in a fairytale like mansion and go on all- expenses paid dream dates? Hardly! In this hurried atmosphere it’s almost certain looks will prevail. And, just as predicted, Miss Missouri contestants Melana Scantlin and Larissa Meek of Average Joe 1 and 2 respectively both consecutively selected the hunky male models as opposed to their average Joe rivals. Personally, I wonder if it was part of their contract that they had to make sure to include one of the average Joe’s in the final two because from what I saw in the series there was no way in hell they were going to pick them.

Then there was Average Joe 3, yes the installment of the series destined to change the way the show worked. Average Joe 3 starred a man instead of a woman (because we all know men prefer personality over looks… sorry, had to), not just any man though but Adam Mesh. Yes, that quirky sweet average Joe that Melana left brokenhearted in a bus while she and model Jason flew off into the sunset. Adam Mesh, the average Joe that all of America fell in love with while mourning Melana’s wrong decision. This time it was his turn to try the shoe on. He would be the one selecting the winner from a household full of beautiful and wonderful personality(ed) women all anxious and excited to meet him.

I thought that for sure this one would be different. After all, Adam knew what it was like to be on the "less beautiful" side. I was sure that he would open his heart to the girl that was more genuine, sincere, and real, rather than the ones that were merely good-looking. And as the first few episodes flew by, he did not disappoint. He seemed to genuinely try to get to know the girls beyond their appearances and even turned away the busload of gorgeous swimsuit models who came in mid-way through the show not wanting to meet the girls that were already there uncomfortable. Sweet? Definitely. So, you can imagine my surprise and disappointment that as the show progressed and right down to the finale Adam began following in the footsteps of his predecessors and leaning heavily towards choosing the prettier girl rather than the one who he obviously had more chemistry with.

For those who haven’t seen the season finale and don’t care to know the end, stop reading. As for me, it was a huge disappointment when Adam finally chose the obviously prettier Barney’s and wannabe socialite Samantha Trenk over the elementary school teacher Rachel Goetz despite the fact that she was incredibly high maintenance, snobby, had a highly irritating pooch fetish, and was severely disliked by his family. In the end, that didn’t matter, and Adam and Samantha flew off to a dream vacation while the sweet mild mannered Rachel boarded the bus of rejection. My, how soon they forget.

In either case, perhaps the producers of the show might want to change the title as they haven’t quite received the "dream ending" they were probably hoping for when they conceptualized the series. It all falls back to the age-old question – looks or personality? Let’s be realistic, looks are the first thing you notice in a person. We’re only human; after all, we can’t help it. But this shouldn’t be what sustains a relationship. In the end, you can only stare mesmerized at someone for so long before you realize you have nothing in common. I can’t presume to judge the former contestants of this reality-show human farce since I truly don’t know anything about them other than what was shown on TV (and we all know how reliable that is), but their decisions – superficial or not – were at least real and only time will tell if they were the right ones.

I hear Average Joe 4 is in the making. Let’s see who prevails in this one.