My Love-Hate Relationship With ‘Southern Charm’
The Bravo TV series hits way too close to home — and yet I can’t look away
Revulsion is a crucial component of love. Like how a beautiful face needs at least one unattractive feature — a big nose or gap between the teeth — to throw the pretty features into relief.
Bravo’s Southern Charm, which “follows Charleston singles as they pursue their personal and professional lives while trying to preserve their family names,” is in theory more deserving of my dislike than adoration. Charleston is Disneyland for bros, and I hate men. Only a deeply ugly or otherwise lacking person would be so attached to their family name. Yet, I find myself uniquely drawn to the show — despite, or perhaps because it hits so close to home.
Most reality TV shows are foreign to me. I’ve never met anyone like the Kardashians or the women of The Real Housewives of OC, which is part of the allure. But Southern Charm depicts a breed of person I’m deeply familiar with.
The show’s star Shepard Rose III looks like every boy I had a crush on growing up. His mom dresses him. He has a completely entitled and unrealistic view of the world. He considers himself well-read because he’s heard of Jack Kerouac and thinks he’s smarter than everyone because he uses words like…
