Has there ever, in the history of reality TV, been a more cynical and sleazy enterprise than ‘MILF Manor’?
Believe me: I’m a fan of the genre. When done right, there’s nothing like reality television for psychodrama, interpersonal relationships, morality shifts, transactional behavior, physical endurance tests, plot twists and Machiavellian gamesmanship. No less a gold-star content creator than Mike White, of ‘White Lotus‘ fame, is also a super-fan of reality television, competing on ‘Survivor’ once and ‘The Amazing Race’ twice.
‘Part of my job and my way of life is studying people and analyzing motivation and character,’ White told The New Yorker in 2021. ‘I still feel like, even on the most contrived reality show, the people are human and they’re more interesting than some of the most well-scripted drama. And for me, as a writer of drama, I aspire to do what reality television already does. To create characters that are surprising and dimensional and do weird s**t and capture your attention.’
And there is no weirder s**t on television right now than TLC’s ‘MILF Manor,’ which promises ‘a dating experience like no other.’
That’s certainly one way to put it. The show’s queasy premise: Eight older mothers and their Gen Z sons gather in one waterfront mansion — moms and sons sharing bedrooms — and engage in all kinds of sexually uncomfortable, vaguely incestuous scenarios.
‘MILF Manor,’ with its cheap production values and flat bright lighting, looks like it’s operating on a soft-core porn budget, and I doubt that’s accidental. We are witnessing both the apotheosis and the nadir of reality television, incest on the bubble as no longer taboo — at least among a certain cohort of reality TV producers and very sad people desperate for any degree of fame.
‘I don’t think any of my sons realize I have an extremely high libido,’ 59-year-old April Jayne — even the names are porn-y — tells us in a confessional. The only rational response to that is: Jeez lady, let’s hope not. Why would any of your sons want that information? Which, of course, they now have, along with much of America.
To see mainstream media treat this show with any degree of normalcy, let alone claim this garbage is a vehicle for feminist self-actualization, is an affront to us all. People magazine: ‘MILF Manor’s Kelle Opens Up About That Shocking Twist: ‘An Experience I Will Forever Be Grateful For.’
Few things are as dispiriting as fame for the sake of fame — and this requires a complete denial of what’s really going on here.
Pola, 48, says she’s looking for a marriage proposal. Stephany, 46, says God is very important to her and she is thrilled to be on ‘this amazing journey.’ Kelle, 51, goes by ‘Disco Mommy’ and tells us in the first episode that if her son Joey, age 20, ‘continues to c**k-block me this entire time, he’s going to ruin the experience.’
