Looking Back: Real World Hawaii

I love almost every season of the Real World for different reasons. I love Seattle because it was the first season I truly watched. I loved Chicago because Tonya was such a polarizing character. Ditto for Back to New Orleans, times 100. I loved Real World Hawaii for many reasons, to be sure. But chief among them is that I thoroughly enjoyed the show even before it began. MTV ingeniously decided to have a casting show that ended with the host of the show, Colin, surprisingly being told he was the final roommate. Great drama, and episode one hadn't even occurred yet.

But the cast wasn't satisfied with a great casting show. They immediately upped the ante with a terrific first episode that involved two cast mates skinny dipping within minutes of meeting each other. The viewer immediately understood that these people were not like them, but rather insane people who just wanted to have fun being exhibitionists. This is exactly what the show needs. We are voyeuristic as a society, and part of that need as voyeurs are subjects willing to embrace our needs by being insane exhibitionists. Teck and Ruthie were the perfect people for it.

One of the great thing about this season was that the cast tackled every Real World cliche head on and amplified them. Alcoholism? Where an average season has a housemate who gets a little aggressive when drunk, this season had Ruthie constantly drunk and eventually driving home clearly blasted. More on that defining moment later. Nudity? Well, we had that in the first ten minutes, and then it continued throughout the show thanks Kaia. Outrageous personalities? That was Teck, who would eventually go on to star in crappy National Lampoon movies (Actually, Van Wilder was good. I did find it very odd that they didn't bring back Teck for the two sequels. Did he say no to them? Can't imagine Teck saw a higher ceiling than 4th lead in a National Lampoon movie).

This season had the confident guy that was the glue to the season, Colin, and the ditzy blonde whose cuteness quickly gets overshadowed by her craziness, Amaya. It even had the evil gay guy, Justin (he is always overlooked when we talk about most evil or hated Real Worlder but man this guy was an awful person) and the hippie-nature girl who is also judgmental and a bitch. It even had the random guy who wasn't interesting at all, Matt. While there weren't any hot girls, it wasn't necessary for the season. It was just a quality cast based on personalities, not looks. A stark contrast from the show Real World would become in just a few years.

There were great moments a plenty in this season, but the big ones all centered around Ruthie and her drinking. We all remember her drunk driving incident. A truly great season has to have at least one show-defining moment, and this was not just season defining, but top 5 show defining. To this day, I can't understand how the producers let her drive home. At some point, you have to break down the fourth wall and prevent a serious crime from happening. This was one of those times, and the producers chose to chase the good television rather than do the right thing. Ultimately, it worked for them since no one got hurt and the episode was awesome. But they took a BIG chance there.

Things got so bad for Ruthie that her family flew in and the entire house gave her an ultimatum: Go to rehab or get kicked off the show. Ruthie was very combative, but eventually agreed. That was great real television. It wasn't easy; Ruthie was vehemently opposed to rehab. And it strained her friendships with the housemates, but eventually it all worked out. Now if only we could send Ryan to rehab. How great would that be? Or CT in anger management??

The recurring plot line for the season was Colin and Amaya's relationship. At first, it was great between them. They were really connecting. Then, shockingly, it all went downhill. Turns out Amaya is batshit crazy and annoying as hell. Funny, it took Colin 2/3rds of the season to realize this. You know what, though? I was fooled for at least half the season. Amaya wasn't my type, but I got it as a guy why Colin was into her. I realized she was one of the dumbest and most irritating people ever a little bit before Colin, but I'll give him a pass. I mean, she did have nice breasts. You can't underestimate their power.

In case you thought that was it, no. There's more! Some of the other notables from the season:

Ruthie had a twin who Matt (you know, that other guy there) hit it off with. That was...interesting, especially since this all played against the bigger issue of Ruthie being an alcoholic. I was wondering when that was going down if Ruthie's twin acted as a stand in when Ruthie was too hammered to wake up.

Kaia was a rambling mess of bullshit. She was very left of center and free with her body. She portrayed an aura of self confidence and smugness. In fact, she was very insecure with herself and hypocritical. Overall, she was full of it. I personally couldn't stand her. What could you expect from someone who went to Berkeley.

Amaya was hated by pretty much everybody by the end of the show. She was a little girl trapped in a adults body. Her insecurities and constant talking behind others back made her really easy to root against.

Then there was Justin. He was an openly gay Harvard student. Good for him, for real. The problem with him is he describes himself as a child prodigy. Translation: pompous, arrogant, smug douchebag. Add on the fact that he tried to break up Colin and Amaya and cause other drama in the house and you get a pretty shitty person. Eventually he left the show in part because of a family emergency, in part because he thought he was above everybody else. The truth is anyone who goes on this show can't be acting superior to anyone else; not a CEO, not a lawyer, not a garbage man, not someone on public assistance, not anyone. It is about as low as Danny Bonaduce currently is.

Last thoughts:

While thinking about this season, I realized there are a few things that are quite coincidental. The best one worth mentioning is the "Friends" parallels. I have seen almost every "Friends" episode mainly because they show at least 3 a day on TBS and Channel 11. And the show is pretty funny, I'll admit. I've noticed the following parallels between Real World Hawaii and "Friends."

1. Amaya is very similar to the character, Phoebe. Both are blonde, ditzy, and a tad annoying. More interesting, they both believe in astrology, auras, chakras, and other bullshit of that nature. In fact, Amaya went on the host two astrology-related shows on "Karma Air."

2. Matt winds up dating Ruthie's twin. Joey did the same thing with Phoebe's twin, Ursella.

3. There is a character on "Friends" called " fun Bobby" who was only entertaining when he drank. Ruthie was also an alcoholic, and a fun and entertaining one at that. Since she quit drinking, she has been pretty dull on the Challenges, just like fun Bobby was when he quit drinking. The lesson is alcohol equals people like you.

4. Teck actually appeared on "Friends," one of only a handful of roles in his acting career.

Finally, Justin was a scheming gay guy who seemed to bask in drama. This falls in line with other gay cast members on the Real World, including Tyler and JD. I've come to the conclusion that there are three types of gay guys on the Real World:

1. The evil gay: He wants to cause drama for his own entertainment, acting like a puppet master. He holds contempt for the others for being so shallow and stupid, yet he also is on the show. This type of gay guy should avoid glass houses.

2. The flamboyant, girlie gay guy: Derek from Cancun and William from Pennsylvania. They are fun and accepted by the other guys, but very flamboyant and sometimes are just used to be the stereotype and amusement of the others. They are really more of a novelty.

3. The jock gay guy: There is a big issue with when they come out to the roommates because they don't seem gay. Think Karamo from Philly, Davis from Denver, and Mike from DC. They are athletic and most people would be surprised to learn they are gay. Incidentally, they wind up hooking up more than anyone else in the house.

Unfortunately,this is all we see from the show. In the actual real world, gay people are usually EXACTLY like straight people. You can't pigeonhole them as a type. Sure those types exist. But the majority are just regular people who act completely normal and being gay is just a part of them. It does not define their lives and personalities. Once again, the Real World show does not accurately reflect the real world. I suppose I shouldn't complain. That would be a fairly boring show if it was exactly like the real world.

That's all there is. Hawaii was a game changer of a season to be sure. It probably most bridged the old school, personality driven seasons with the new school, alcohol and over the top behavior season. But it was definitely a classic and one I won't soon forget.