12.20.07

Tila Tequila Scores, We Lose

Posted in Culture, Media and Entertainment, Sexuality, Offbeat at 6:54 pm by telly_wong

Nuts in her mouth: I guess she’s straight after all

This past Tuesday saw the long-awaited finale of MTV’s “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila”, the trashy “reality” dating show that featured 16 straight men and 16 lesbians vying for the elfin hand of the supposedly bisexual professional MySpace friend Tila Tequila.

After two months (which I’m guessing took a mere two weeks to actually film) of hot tub shenanigans, crocodile tears and lesbian kisses, Tila’s final two contenders were a white guy named Bobby and a white lesbian named Dani. Perhaps following in the great tradition of well-worn interracial dating paradigms, Tila chose Bobby.

Maybe I’m being naive here but since she’s “bisexual”, couldn’t she have just picked both?

I’m not gonna get started on why this show sucks because I’m sure many of you already know. It was bad enough that none of the male suitors appeared to be Asian (for the politically correct, if one of them happened to be half or a quarter or an eighth or a sixteenth Asian, they certainly didn’t look it, and, unfortunately, that’s what counts when we’re discussing media representation), but as someone with a young sister, I’m concerned about the message “Shot” sends to the young people of America: Asian women are sexually promiscuous playthings.

Unfortunately, instead of being a pimple on my ass that will soon go away, this Tila Tequila phenomenon looks like it’s developed into a full-blown anal fissure that’s gonna stick around. The show was a ratings smash, according to an MTV press release, that averaged 6 million viewers per episode and was MTV’s second highest-rated telecast of the year. More alarming, however, was the series finale was the most watched telecast across all of television among 12 to 34 year olds.

Now call me an old fart, but as a concerned adult, should early adolescent kids be exposed to theatrical bisexual antics (as opposed to a real lifestyle) at a time when many are still developing and/or exploring their sexual identity?

My other beef with the Tila Tequila show is that it continues to reinforce the American public’s narrow perception of who Asian folks are and what we’re all about in American society.

While some idiots will point to VH1’s own trashy “reality” dating show “I Love New York” as an example of mass media’s colorblindness when it comes to the stereotype-affirming exploitation of minorities, there are some major differences. For every New York, Mo’Nique and Chris Tucker, there is a Halle Berry, Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith. In other words, there is an arguable balance and the Average Joe’s perspective is ultimately left to their own common sense.

Unfortunately, for us yeller skins, the decision makers in Hollywood don’t feel the same obligation to provide a wider definition of our community. Therefore, when we’re given a mainstream platform, like Ms. Tequila, we shouldn’t squander it by acting like a jackass and pandering to the Oriental sexual fantasies of the Western male.

But then again, maybe I’m asking too much of Ms Tequila. After all, this is a woman who makes a living dry-humping cars in her underwear.

– Telly Wong

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