The world of other men: The editors look "Marry Buzov"
Reality shows continue to interest us and how gilty-plyzhe, and as a pop cultural phenomenon. Therefore, past the first Russian adaptation of “Bachelorette” (with, by the way, a more ironic name) with Olga Buzova, the princess sitting on the throne, the editorial board could not pass. Did the Russian star number one succeed in changing the rules of a sexist show? Wonderzine editors, who had time to evaluate the first series of "Marry Buzov", argue.
I know a little about Russian television, I watch it only in the days of doubts and thoughtful thoughts about the fate of the motherland - if this is, for example, the release “Let them talk” with Diana Shurygina or some wild and memetic things that she brings from social networks. However, it was immediately clear about the Buzova show that it would be a cultural phenomenon: firstly, the “Bachelorette” format in Russian realities is not run-in and I wonder what will come of it, and secondly, Buzova is really “the most media girl of the country” this is often talked about in the show, and whether we like it or not, it affects the minds of Russian women much more than the Wonderzine editorial board. This is a force to be reckoned with.
If I were in the place of Olga Buzova, I would also organize everything in this way: why should celebrity waste time in a tinder, when you can call a dozen potential partners to Italy and have a good time choosing the most worthy? Even if none of the men Ole does not fit, she will be able to console herself a little with the increase in her media power (well, with a fee). Candidates for the hand and heart of Buzova are selected according to all the rules of reality shows: among them there are very clear types (aggressive jock, millionaire, shirt-guy with his cheese factory, model lady, vegan named Vegan and so on), which is a little boring - the choice of who to root for is reduced to the choice of the “least evil”. The application for feminism, which seems to be the name suggests, “Marry Buzova”, unfortunately, does not justify: men try to show which of them is alpha, Olga falls asleep with sexist compliments and try to attract her attention with vulgar methods from secondary school, and the strong woman Buzova constantly says that she wants to be a "girl" and feel like a princess. But there are some good moments: Buzova is not ashamed to say that she’s the main one here, that she hasn’t had a relationship for several years - and all this time she worked a lot and earned a lot, that she used to do everything herself and actually does a great job without men And since she decided to look for a partner - this will happen according to her rules, that is, she is still not quite a maiden in distress.
Separately, I will note the leading Marina Kravets - she has so far shown herself to be as correct and appropriate as possible. There is no “competition between girls”, everyone fulfills their roles: Buzova is the romantic main character, Kravets is her sensible and sensitive assistant. It's nice that she does not flirt with the participants of the competition and does not allow to talk condescendingly with herself - it is immediately clear who the authorities are here. Perhaps this is a professional deformation, but it is always pleasant for me to see how women are commanded by a crowd of men.
Without any shame, I can say that I look at “Marrying Buzov” with an absolutely sincere interest - and when my partner joked that he could already finish the final, I believed and was horrified. This, of course, is not the show, after which Russian women will believe in themselves and come out of a burning hut, but for our television, Marrying Buzova is a breakthrough.
We already watched the Bachelor version with Yegor Creed, were completely delighted with the sexism festival that was unfolding in the Russian version of the show and asked the activist Elena Rydkina who participated in it, how it all worked out. So, before watching the first edition of “Marriage to Buzov,” I understood about what I should expect from him, which did not prevent the authors of the show to surprise me.
I'll start with the good. The female version of the American Bachelor on ABC is not a very ambitious attempt to restore gender justice: its participants were mostly girls from previous seasons of the Bach, already familiar to the audience, which are usually not known - they just play the role of a princess in the tower. And the show on TNT was not even called “Bachelorette”, but they carried the name of the main character into it, also tried to make a joke about “married” - which, in general, only emphasizes that the personality of Buzova will be more important than the traditional concept of the show. And it has long been clear that Olga doesn’t need TNT, and Olga needs TNT - how can you not be happy for her career? In the frame she says things that are regular for this show: she missed love, wants to feel like a "girl" and is waiting for "knights-getters-conquerors". At the same time, her personal charm truly makes me believe that Buzova is really ready to give her heart to one of the past casting guys, I even feel dramatic about the weekly temptation with money - there are always at every step emphasizing that who has serious intentions. Suppose this is still not the case, but the Buzova phenomenon itself introduces some freshness into the usual pattern of relations between the “bachelor” and the participants competing for him. I'm just comfortable and funny to watch this show, the degree of discrimination there is clearly lower than in the men's seasons.
On the other hand, I did not expect, but I discovered the world of other men. On Russian TV, it turns out, the difficulty with the idea of men and masculinity. There are no real people among the contenders for the heart of Buzova - as is usually the case, there are types: millionaire, jock, DJ, freak, and even a fine prince who was lost somewhere on the way to Italy. But it is easier for women in such shows to match the roles they have defined for them, because such a tradition and patterns of behavior have been worked out over the years of practice. As for the men, the representation was not brought to Russia in this tradition, so they mostly thoughtlessly speak about competitors, perform tasks and quietly wait to see Olga - all the emotional work (tears, scandals, feelings, change of attitude, etc.) is performed by the heroine. I suspect that fights and other features of the national pickup truck are still waiting for us, but I will continue to watch and quietly rejoice that I don’t recognize anyone from my surroundings in these characters.
Since the “Last Hero”, it seems, I have not watched a single shot-out marathon, either Russian or foreign. All of them, sooner or later, roll into a bad theater, in which participants begin to act out roles, no matter whether it is at will or at the instigation of editors who provoke conflicts, without which not a single reality will keep the audience. And as soon as this happens, all the charm of "reality" for me here already disappears.
In "Buzovoy" in this sense, the full order, because the show from the very beginning sets the typical fairy tale: the boyars go to woo Vasilisa Mikulishna; Assol is waiting for Gray, but he took it and got lost somewhere on the way to Italy. And even the main twist of the first series (we will try without direct spoilers), when the gentlemen who came to the casting begin to look at one another nervously - has anyone had time to tackle some nonsense during the tiresome casting? eavesdrop on the door. Buzova, as a veteran of Russian reality, understands the rules of the game. In the first series, she regularly gives the Greek goddess, who seeks to love a mortal, but keeps the right distance, upsetting those who naively decided that she picked up a password for her and broke into the leaders. To heart will press - to hell will send. I do not presume to judge how sincerely she does it, but for our play it is not at all important. The main thing is that it works at the level of drama.
Since the plot is fabulous, I would also not draw general conclusions about the representativeness of potential suitors of varying degrees of muzhikovostyu. Although we are once again given to understand that social activists on Russian TV can appear, but only as freaks-outsiders, without a single chance of success: a tattooed-pierced vegan named Vegan was definitely worth taking the proposed bribe and running off with the casting with all legs . So far, I am intrigued by two questions. General: how quickly the company of buds will turn into a jar of spiders, where everyone eats each other. Private: is there enough exposure for a cheese maker from Suzdal - as long as he looks like the most human of the applicants? I put on him - do not let me down, man.
I do not have a TV at home, and if it were not for the case, I would never even pay attention to what is happening in it: all the channels I replaced with YouTube for a long time. Nevertheless, our television can’t be snobbish at least for anthropological reasons: I know what images I read from advertising on the Internet or Western TV shows - what do megapopular entertainment channels like TNT broadcast to my vast audience? It seems that nothing good, but I want to know for sure.
At the same time, I approached the phantasmagoria with the marriage of Buzovaya without prejudice: the star “Doma-2” and Instagram-Story are a good example of self-made-high school in the world of Russian showbiz. She writes books, opens restaurants, writes albums and generally doesn’t work - even if you don’t like this aesthetically, I find it useful that there’s an example of a successful working woman. Another question is that this status seems to be embarrassed by Buzova herself: under pressure from the patriarchal tradition, even five minutes does not pass, so that the main character of the Russian “Bachelorette” (show, understandably, tracing paper with American reality) does not assure viewers that she is “girl” and "like all girls" dreams of quiet family happiness.
And yet, with mermaid curls and a polished neutral smile, it is not difficult to see a person who knows what he wants. Do you boast with money? In the span. Stretch to paw when you first met? Be kind, keep boundaries. I am always happy when I see glimpses of progressive things in popular culture - and especially when they are served as something that goes without saying. Olga Buzova (let's not forget, in the framework of the dramatic show in Russia) regularly puts in place of her boyfriends - and she does absolutely right.
But this is where the chthonic abyss opens, among the candidates for the hand and heart of a TV star. Yes, the subversion is obvious: on the site of the one who chooses for once is not a man, who assesses women on a five-point scale, but a woman who independently makes a decision (how much objectification is there and whether it is worth raising the question in general is a separate topic). But this did not help the applicants to be interesting or at least respectful people. After the last two episodes, the impression remains that the only thing that interests them in Buzova is her status and appearance, almost no one tries to find out what kind of person she is. This is clearly seen in the tie-ins with the talking heads: the main character is “cute,” “sexy,” but this is the end of the story. And this, in general, from the point of view of socioculture is an indicative story.
For me, the ideal result of this action would be the following: Olga Buzova and the leading Marina Kravets leave all these worthless boyfriends and leave for the sunset - they don’t need them at all.