Wednesday, November 02, 2005

My New TV Girlfriend

My new TV Girlfriend is Dominique from MTV's Making The Band 3, Season 2!!! She is so talented and charismatic that even if she doesn't make the band (which will only prove that Diddy is a complete idiot) I'm sure that we'll be seeing more of her. Dominique is def star material. One of my favorite Dominique moments is when, after being asked to run six miles -- a sort of making the band challenge -- she remarks sassily "I don't usually run unless I'm being chased." In her interviews she's down to earth, driven, and smart. And she has one of those cool, husky voices (sort of like Fantasia's) and everything she says or sings sounds awesome. And she dances in this way that is really cute and sort of bouncy but also sort of badass. I want her to be my friend.

In somewhat related news, Salon has an article (humorously titled "Laguna Biatch") on "real life mean girl" Kristin Cavellari from MTV's Laguna Beach. Suzy Hansen writes:


and later:



This article is pretty on target, though I disagree with the notion that Kristin is unique. Kristin is clearly a product of affluent republicans (and it's rumored that of all the "rich kids" on Laguna Beach, she and LC are the only ones who are truly loaded). But she doesn't seem all that different to me than all the rich kids I used to babysit. These kids basically dominated their parents. They could do whatever they wanted, even if it meant someone else had to make a sacrifice. Kristin just sort of seems like that to me -- someone who basically has figured out how to rule and doesn't like thinking about how her actions might affect others. Trust me, this girl is swimming in the shallow end. I'll admit that I think it's cool that she doesn't get too caught up in all the high school bullshit (though I have hunch that she's one of those people who would pull hair on the playground or terrorize a classmate for something like playing the tuba) , but I think that has more to do with the fact that she's very very used to enjoying her privelege (and of course that little fact that she's on a hit reality show that's allowed her to go from high school student to celebrity overnight. I mean -- for chrissakes people -- she was probably doing lines with Paris at some hot club the night before her prom. Like she's gonna give a shit about high school after that!). Anyway . . . the fact that Kristin comes off as "unique" simply because she doesn't let a bunch of narcissistic boys who can't put sentences together walk all over her also suggests something pretty frightening about what we consider "normal." Yikes.

Anyway, Dominique is my girl. You can check her out on MTV Overdrive by clicking here.

3 comments:

Monique Mendoza said...

I agree with you that she's not incredibly unique - but I don't think it's just the spoiled rich girl tendency. Whether or not Kristin gets what she wants (be it a car or a new outfit) she's also got the backstabbing attitude that crosses over class lines.

She reminds me of a lot of girls I'd known in grade school and high school (though they didn't have the money).

femme feral said...

Hey Monique! Thanks for stopping by!

You're right that backstabbing isn't unique to children of affluent republicans -- "backstabbers" likely exist in any situation in which access to power is limited (i.e. high school). The atmosphere of competition doesn't necessarily reward those who always play nice, and Kristin is a good example of this. She makes a damn fine capitalist.

The thing is, even if there are so-called "mean girls" at every school, those who have the leisure time and money to pursue the "backstabbing" strategies that reward them with power def have an advantage (never mind how this might be compounded by the fact that K is in front of a camera). And I do think the responses to Kristin's class advantage and "mean girl" strategies mirror macro-trends and attitudes around gender, class, and power.

femme feral said...

I can't believe that you don't think Dominique is a good dancer!

This is my band: Domnique, Aubrey, Aundrea, Denosh, and Kaui. For this week at least.

I wonder if they are going to bring the girl with the hip problem back. She could really sing.