terrace house: boys x girls in the city (2015)

TERRACE HOUSE!!!!! This show is highly addictive most likely because it is so satisfying for me to watch Asian people in media. Most Americans are familiar with reality TV as a place where idiots gather to get famous by having their worst moments captured and provide the audience with a stronger sense of self-satisfaction. Terrace House, however, is a different story. Not only is the show set in Japan, but it does not seem to have the agenda of fanning the flames of drama. Instead, the show portrays the everyday lives of young people who are polite, kind, and funny, who have goals and careers they get to showcase on the show, who solve dilemmas by having mature conversations. Moreover, cast members are free to leave the show if they choose, making the format seem less coercive than most other reality shows (though we don't know the extent to which producers are involved in that decision).

my OG girlz

An additional layer of the show involves six commentators who convene to watch the show every week and discuss it. Their banter is generally amusing when you try to ignore the very obvious fact that the discussion is dominated by the two men, with the women left mostly agreeing with or adding to the men's comments while occasionally putting a short thought or two out there themselves. This dynamic we see in American culture as well and is obviously nothing new, but the degree of gender (especially feminine) performance is very visible. In general, however, their commentary is funny and a nice format to channel any joys or frustrations you have as a viewer into, as I found they generally said things that I was thinking about already.

the above-mentioned commentators

The biggest disappointment of the show is that it does focus heavily on romance in a very heteronormative and sexist way - there are always 3 girls and 3 guys living in the house at once, and it can feel extremely lame to watch the men (esp the three in the beginining) talking about the girls' boobs, to have people criticized for not being "manly" or "feminine" enough to date or be respectable, to have multiple shots of girls in bikinis with their heads cropped out whenever the cast goes to the beach. To see a nineteen year old girl crying after doing a photoshoot in a bikini was heartbreaking, and have the moment be pretty much glossed over by the commentators was highly disappointing. We do see interesting manifestations of gender roles in less inflammatory settings - the women are generally the ones who do the cooking, for example, which really had me thanking the gods that I am not in their position!

can we not

i feel ya gurl

It is refreshing, however, to watch generally attractive Japanese people interact with one another in mundane ways. They're just like us! And perhaps a bit better at communicating than some of us! There is something really pleasant about witnessing these mundane conversations that seem truly unscripted (unlike the dialogue in American reality shows), to watch the complexity of human interaction unfold in an unchaotic setting as the cast continue about their daily work lives. Perhaps the show says something about how one's life can change solely based on the people one gets to know, about how meaningful friendships blossom from stranger-hood, how one can become so attached to people and places simply by spending time with them and being in their presence. Terrace House accomplishes what the Bachelor/ette fails to do - capture convincing romances and even more convincing friendships.

FAVORITE CHARACTERS LIST: Minori, Mizuki, Arisa, Arman, Hikaru, and Martha. Arman x Martha are the dream ship and the ship has sailed and they are still together based on their instagrams and all is right in the world.

Not sure if I will watch the other versions of the show: the original and Aloha State. At the very least it is nice to know that they are there for me when I need them. :)