Years ago when the word "blog" was new I loved reading a blog by a housewife who lived on a ranch in Oklahoma and talked about real problems. She had to deal with laundry, housework, homeschooling her kids, and more. I could relate to her. She also documented, photographic step by photographic step, the recipes she shared.
Then one day -- overnight, it seemed -- she became The Pioneer Woman - multi-billion dollar brand. The blog became a website.
Her blogs stopped being interesting. Nice photography, but she has nothing to say about normal life now.
I stopped reading her blog. I cannot relate to her now. Her life is a mega-celebrity life and it has nothing to do with mine. She has written and published a bunch of books. She has her own TV show. She has a huge staff of people who do everything for her. Her sister comes up with her recipes now. Ree is just a spokeswoman, a face, traveling all over promoting her various projects. She has a line of housewares. She owns a store in her hometown.
Before she became a celebrity, her husband was already one of the richest men in Oklahoma. Ree doesn't even have to work. She can sit back and do nothing and still not worry about paying a bill. I cannot relate to that.
The blog says she is a housewife. Um, NO, you're not, girlfriend. When was the last time you cleaned your own house, or wondered what you were going to fix for dinner? 2007?
This phenomena is distressing to me, and it continues.
I found the show Fixer Upper a couple of years ago. I loved that Chip and Joanna seemed like real people, nice folks who help others get a lovely home. I forgave them for putting hardwood floors in bedrooms. I chuckled at the obsession with "shiplap" -- which I would just call old boards.
I ignored the fact that I read a story that says they take all the furniture out of the homes after the big "reveal" at the end of each show, so the clients can move in their own crappy stuff.
I ignored all their expansions into the retail world -- the store, the books, the bakery, etc.
I have tried hard to ignore the fact that they never have gay people on the show.
Now Chip Gaines is has written a book, Capital Gaines, and this morning I flipped on the TV and he was talking about the cover photo on The Today Show.
I am afraid.
I fear Chip and Joanna are going to become like the Pioneer Woman, and stop being real people. Chip's normal goofiness is a big part of his appeal.
I hope he doesn't keep diversifying.
I hope he will stay a real person, and he and Joanna will continue to renovate homes.
But why would they? They are TV stars now. Why would they work their butts off to help normal folks get nice homes? They can cash in now. They can leave normal folks behind.
Why would Chip want to spend all day doing manual labor when he can sit back and watch the dollars roll in from his retail/book empire?
I guess it's inevitable that this would happen. It just makes me sad.
You know why people like to see "reality TV"? They want to see themselves, not actors. They want real life things they can relate to, not megamillion dollar celebrities hawking products.
I hope Chip and Joanna don't sell out more..
