Dear Jenny,
I'm still enjoying 8th & Ocean, although I'm having trouble explaining why or for that matter thinking of anything interesting to report about it. We're three episodes in and I still feel like nothing has happened. But wait, things have happened. We met all these young models. We found out that Sabrina is a bad model with bad skin and her identical twin sister, Kelly, is a good model with good skin and also, possibly, a supercilious bitch. We met Britt, who's a Christian, was homeschooled and has never danced. We've met Teddy, a male model, who likes Britt. We've met some others, I guess, and some people who work for their agent, Irene Marie. There have been some conflicts. This week Sabrina put down her cellphone because she couldn't even deal with what one of the agents was telling her about her skin.
There's something really distancing about this quasi-unscripted business. I'm not sure I know how I'm supposed to feel about what I'm watching. The oddly high production values and the contrived dialogue make me feel like I'm watching a scripted show, which makes me feel like it's OK to gloat about Sabrina's acne. But Sabrina's playing herself and, assumedly, evincing real emotions about said acne, which must be embarrassing for her -- and worse, because everyone keeps going on about her pretty her sister is. So I feel empathy, but only belatedly. Am I becoming a sociopath just by watching this stupid show? Oops.
Love,
-- Pete
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