The latest series of Made In Chelsea is upon us and I once again feel queasy, can someone pass the bucket? Why do we always insist on celebrating excess? It is absolutely beyond me why so many watch this glorified tripe. It is quite literally the television equivalent of manure.
For a start, this show is constantly confused as to what it should be. As a result, the 'characters' are in a permanent state of limbo: do they act or just 'act naturally?' What we are left with is a horrible blood curdling set of awkward scenarios. Maybe that's what they should just call the show: awkward moments. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
But for now- lets pretend the acting is swell and the show merits it's place at the top of the ratings. I now take quarry with what the show is actually about: cameras following the so-called 'rich' around the luxurious postcodes of London. Drinking, dancing, fighting and intercourse-ing.
It is human nature to have a voyeuristic element to our psyche. Jeremy Kyle viewers revel in the plights of others. We do the same for Made in Chelsea; this time for a group of post-pubescent perennial teenagers, as they cavort around our great city with some deeply unfounded sense of entitlement.
Yet why do we covet the 'rich' in such an overt manner? For the vast majority of us; times are tough and all those payday loan adverts you see on TV, which you used to laugh at: now, seem understandable. Perhaps many of us are looking for an escape. If so, open a book. I bought one on Amazon this week for less than two pounds. Delivery included. No financial excuses please.
This is now the fifth series of Made In Chelsea. What cannot be disputed is its longevity. Here we are, once again faced with familiar faces: Spencer, Francis and Millie but to name a few.
One wonders at this point how much recycling of the story-lines producers can churn. What the series probably needs is some 'shock' factor, edging it nearer to the entertaining realms of TOWIE and Geordie Shore. These two shows aren't afraid to push the boundaries and show a realism that is glaringly absent in Chelsea. I much prefer a Geordie filled evening than that of one that takes me to the King's Road.
This article may get a sour reaction. Fans of the show may say it's harmless, light entertainment. To that I say- Nay! The rhetoric being promoted is that money does not matter and that an opulent and ostentatious way of life is to be praised. We need to cut the chord of this narrative, which is slowly but surely becoming all-pervasive.
As someone on the periphery of the media world, I cannot blame the participants. They have their own agendas, many of which to promote their 'real' work. Yet with that said, I hope they are knowledgeable to their derisory contribution to society.