Oh my gosh, “Real World” stars Jamie and Karamo are going to be on campus today! Man, one can be certain that Ed Board is going to be there. In force.
No, that’s not true at all.
Now, don’t get us wrong, Ed Board appreciates all the events that Program Council puts on and the behind-the-scenes work that goes into putting on these events. But do former “Real World” stars have anything to contribute to the SMU population? Do they have any info about the real world?
Apparently they will be having an informal talk about various issues including diversity, sex and the show. Is anyone really surprised that “Real World” stars are going to be talking about the show?
It’s the only thing they can talk about. It’s the entire reason for their so-called “celebrity” status.
The Tate Lecture Series and the Stanton Sharp Symposium generally only provide dry intellectual material, and so it’s good that Program Council provides students an event that’s purely entertainment.
However are “Real World” stars the best SMU can get? How about some actual movie stars?
There are now literally dozens of “Real World” contestants, all trying to live off their residual fame from the show. None of them have a legitimate claim to fame, as opposed to note worthy stars such as Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie (starring in the upcoming Alexander), Nicolas Cage and Sean Bean (National Treasure) or Wesley Snipes and Ryan Reynolds (Blade Trinity). All these “real world” stars have upcoming movies, and while expensive, probably at least one could have been convinced to come to campus to promote their upcoming movies.
There are also other problems with the event, the biggest being the poor timing. It seems to be an annual bad decision: “Let’s have ‘Real World’ here on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving!”
The day before Thanksgiving break, at 12:30 p.m., is a bad time to hold any event. People are going home today, many in the early afternoon. Before that, they’ll most likely be packing.
But if the event doesn’t have any fans, maybe it doesn’t matter if the timing is poor. The program council Web page however claims, “Per popular demand, the annual tradition of the Real World at SMU program continues this year…”
So, there is a demand for it, and it’s apparently becoming an SMU tradition.
Well then, that’s great! Ed Board appears to have been wrong in assuming the event doesn’t have any fans.
But we remain firm in the assertion that if Program Council brought some actual movie stars, more students would attend the event. Although the cost would definitely increase, stars are always interested in promoting themselves, and college students are one of the best markets right now.
