The Ultimate Social Experiment
“I’ve got the brains, you’ve got the looks, let’s make lots of money"?
The theme song for the tv reality show The Beauty and the Geek sums it up nicely…put together some really smart guys with good looking women and let them fight it out for the prize money. Deemed "The Ultimate Social Experiment"?, this show pairs geeks (intelligent young men who are socially awkward) with beauties (women who have gotten by with their good looks, and not much else) and pits them against each other in various challenges.
I’ll admit the premise of this show is somewhat more interesting than some other show: the goal is not to find romance, nor just to get money, but for each group to learn from each other. Through challenges like Rocket Science and computer assembly for the beauties, speed dating and fashion for the geeks, each participant is forced to learn things in areas in which they are deficient.
The show is entertaining, and on the surface seems to be well meaning. However, with this show in its fourth season, I am increasingly uncomfortable with the social stereotypes that it portrays. Are these people for real? When asked the question “Who wrote Beethoven’s 5th?" during casting, one beauty responded, “Oh I don’t know. I don’t read books, only magazines. Another, when asked their IQ, responded “2.5?" Meanwhile, one geek rattles off the US presidents’ names in reverse order, while another admits he’s only ever kissed one girl.
Do you think social stereotypes are more accepted than other stereotypes? Are they a reflection of our society or do they perpetuate intolerance? How is this show any different from a show that portrays racial or other stereotypes?
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I think this could be a perception of our society, perhaps a reflection. Whether people want to or not they often find themselves in one category or another. Some accept it and some resent it. For anyone who’s ever been called a “geek”, this doesnt really help them overcome that. And despite the “geeks” on the show being confident in what their into (computers, star trek or whatever) those who have a low self esteem from being bullied probably would rather not be identified with those interests. As far as the “beauties”, it kinda goes to show that a pretty face can still get into the media, intelligent or not. Hopefully girls out there will respond with “I dont want to be that stupid” rather than “eww she kissed a nerd!”. If it has success in breaking perceptions from one group to another thats great, otherwise its a show to encourage more ridicule to “geeks” and less respect to not-so-intelligent “beauties”. I’m surprised they havent done the reverse showing smart women and hunky men yet.