Just When You Thought Reality TV Could Not Be Any Worse

Just When You Thought Reality TV Could Not Be Any Worse (originally posted 12/4/2007)

There is now a reality show being promoted that sets up US citizens with eager non-citizens seeking to marry. The show is called WHO WANTS TO MARRY A US CITIZEN? This is so perverse and tasteless that I don't even know where to start. Particularly fucked up is that it is two Latino guys pitching the show. This reminds me of the repellent Nelly Galan, Latina creator of Extreme Makeover, possibly, until this show came along, the most unethical reality show out there. Both shows testify to the self-hatred and internalized racism which is rewarded by mainstream media - hello Uncle Tomas and Tia Tomas.

In Extreme Makeover, women were ethnically-cleansed and made to be more "Caucasian" (if your idea of Caucasian is a drag queen styled by Ivana Trump on PCP, with a budget allowing her to shop at JC Penney). Men also were subject to humiliation and to the sadistic gaze of the audience, of course. There was one episode that I loved because when the peroxide blonde and heavily made up mom came out to greet her family one of her babies literally burst into tears! The kid did not recognize the creature picking him up to hug him.

It was an awesome moment of real reality within reality TV.

Of course, in Spain they don't need this because they have a system whereby bus tours are organized to bring in immigrant females to depopulated rural towns in the middle of nowhere to marry Spanish men. So Cubans, Dominicans and others, usually much younger than the men they end up with, get a chance at citizenship that way.


Show seeks to love match migrants and U.S. citizens
Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:47pm EST

PHOENIX (Reuters) - A Los Angeles company is touting a new reality game show called "Who Wants to Marry a U.S. Citizen" that aims to create televised matrimony between legal citizens and immigrants who have temporary visas.

The show's backers at Morusa Media hope to make a sort of love match between reality TV and a national obsession with immigration. But the producers make no promise that a marriage will occur or lead to U.S. citizenship.

Show creator Adrian Martinez said that Morusa Media has not yet found a network to produce or air the show, but he is currently in talks with one cable TV network and already has signed up contestants for six episodes.

"It's this generation's 'Dating Game,' but with a twist -- it aims to show love knows no borders," Martinez told Reuters.

As in the "Dating Game," which ran on network TV for more than two decades starting in the 1960s, a single U.S. citizen gets to ask contestants various questions. Toward the end of the show, he or she decides which one to select as a potential mate.

So far, most of the contestants are Hispanic immigrants, although at least one is from the Philippines, Martinez said.

In a statement, Morusa said that while it does not guarantee marriage or legal status, it will pay for a wedding party and honeymoon should a marriage result.

"We're just out to play matchmaker," said the show's host, Angelo Gonzales. "There are thousands of U.S. citizens seeking a spouse, and just as many immigrants seeking the same. So we want to make it a win-win situation for all involved."

Reuters/Nielsen http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN3031650320071201?rpc=24&sp=true