I have recently become obsessed with the second season of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills". I began to watch the show after I heard that one of the cast mate's husband had committed suicide. It seemed strange to me that Bravo would allow content of Taylor Armstrong's husband, Russell, to still be aired on television considering the sensitivity of the matter. As viewers, we were suppose to watch this couple undergo marital problems the entire season, while all the while knowing that Russell would eventually be taking his own life.
Reality television has emerged as one of the most popular genre's of television being aired today. There are many reasons why people are fascinated with reality television programming, which will be discussed at length in this blog, but today I want to focus on the reason of what drove me to watch the Beverly Hills housewives. Curiosity is the main reason I began to watch the show. I wanted to learn who these people were and why Russell committed suicide. Voyeuristic tendencies are one of the main reasons why people watch reality programming. The viewers are curious about the private matters of other people's lives. Being able to catch a glimpse of the private matters of people's lives gives the audience a sense of enjoyment.
So finally the moment came for the season finale,which was suppose to address the aftermath of Russell's suicide. Viewers had waited in anticipation to see what had gone wrong. The previews had shown footage of the cast discussing the incident in the beginning of the episode so when it came to the last final minutes and it had still not been discussed I think i can safely say that all the viewers were all thinking the same thing: WHAATTT?!
What happened with Taylor and Russell is honestly none of my business and this probably sounds insensitive, but I couldn't help but to be angry and disappointed that I had watched an entire season of this show to see what drove Russell to commit suicide and how Taylor had handled the incident. Viewers were especially interested in this content considering the nature of their marriage and the rumors of physical abuse that followed after Russell's death.
Bravo had included a lot of content of Taylor and Russell going through marriage counseling and felt free to air that so I'm kind of baffled why they wouldn't finish their story, instead of just brushing over it. Instead they just promoted the fact that Taylor is writing a tell all book about her marriage. Now I love the show but reading an entire book about Taylor Armstrong's life......no thanks.
