Hagemony, "The Rachel Zoe Project," and BRAVO

My guilty T.V pleasures for the most part, reside on the BRAVO TV network. From “The Real House Wives” of wherever, to “Flipping Out” and so on. Most if not all of the reality TV shows broadcasted on this network consist of individuals in the upper class. They have extravagant life styles, friends, family, and wardrobes. I would like to specifically focus on my favorite show: “The Rachel Zoe Project.” As a fashion lover myself I watch this show mainly to watch Rachel’s work as a stylist and entrepreneur, but if you look behind Rachel’s hard work that got her to the top you see the people she interacts with everyday. From models, to designers, actresses and so on everyone is in the upper class, even her employees seem to be. The ideology of Rachel’s crowd is basically: Fashion and luxury is everything. At the end of the day that is what their work revolves around. Hegemony is seen in that Rachel and her Employees are driving the industry and creating a dominant ideology for fashion. What is socially acceptable and what is not. However the show does have Rachel’s Husband Roger who seems to being everyone back to earth reminding them that fashion is not everything and that family and loyalty are most important. therefore creating multiple ideologies on the show.

Also, on the topic of reality television in one of this week’s article, the BRAVO network is entirely all reality TV and does exceptionally well. It makes one wonder if more networks and channels will also soon turn all reality TV and stars It seems to be what the public favors and wants to watch. I think reality TV can be just as satisfying and interesting as sitcoms. There are still stories there, but stories of real people. It is an escape from your own world and a peek into the upper classes in BRAVO’s case.