Ok, so the highly-anticipated announcement of the Lake Shore cast members has been leading up to this very moment. If you refer back to my list of who (I think) should be on Lake Shore, my top 8 were: Vonny, Kali, Karolina, Persia, Tommy Hollywood, Easton and Dana (the twins), Manuel Deon, and Robby Simpson.
Who ended up making it? Joey, Arber, Salem, Tommy (correct), Sibel, Karolina (correct), Robyn, and Anni Mei - which means I got 25% right on my predictions.
If you read my analysis - along with my previous chosen Top 8 - you most likely caught my wishy washiness - or lack of confidence - in the selections. For that reason, I believed the top 25 were all somehow equally capable of contributing their own authentic X-factors that would give the show that pizazz? - again, hence my not taking one side of just one or many potential contestants.
But, the key word here is "authentic." The initial purpose of Lake Shore was not just to include people of different ethnicities, races, or religions but to bring people of different cultures and personalities together as one - to not separate people into their little cliques or minorities and put them against each other (unless it's in the "fake drama" way), but to shape them into one multicultural family, country, society - world, even (as cliche as it sounds). Lake Shore could've been seen as a means of battling racism and glamourizing positive acceptance (as it should be, like one would glamourize Angelina Jolie and Madonna's rescuing and adopting poor kids from Africa), but now, I'm not so sure.
Ok, so we have Turkish (Sibel), Italian (Joey), Vietnamese (Anni Mei), Czech (Tommy), Jewish (Robyn), Polish (Karolina), Lebanese (Salem), and Albanian (Arber). Therefore, we have some Asian, some European...but how about the African Americans? Sure, excluding - or just not including - at least one black person into the mix may spark up debates as to how they chose the Top 8 (it wasn't necessarily based on who attained the highest votes). Of course, it may just be a coincidence that they didn't think any of the coloured individuals who auditioned were cut out - or so we think.
I happen to know many Facebook "friends" of Lake Shore - or I - disagree with many of the choices the team has made. Of course, they took the time to thoroughly assess each parameter and combine a group of people who would influence just the right type of drama and dirtiness, but would the viewers - the people who also must want to watch the show to propel the program's success - consent? Again, if Lake Shore's intention was to create diversity, and they didn't note the diversity of an African American person - who should be recognized for their historical significance, for their fighting justice and molding the world into the less legally prejudiced world it has become today - by including them in the Top 8, then the cast isn't exactly as diverse as they wanted it to be. Then again, concentrating on just one race's elimination overshadows the fact that there are more than just 8 ethnicities or cultures in the world, and Lake Shore shouldn't be expected to confront all of them.
Not to say Lake Shore is being racist. However, simply inserting a comment Sibel made in the Lake Shore series premiere sneak peak is a bit daunting and representing Lake Shore as a whole being racist. Sibel says "I'm not racist. I hate everyone equally, especially Jews." Hmm...is she being racist, or did she have a negative experience with more than one Jewish individual that has caused her to believe all Jewish people fall into a specific stereotype? Who knows? I guess we'll find out on the show? P.S. Looks like there's some tension between her and Robyn (who is a Jew). Coincidence?
Guys like Tommy, Arber, and Joey "love to party" every night of the week. In fact, there's no such natural force as daylight for them (metaphorically, not literally, speaking) - even so far as to say that some of them might even be somehow connected - or work - in the club promotions industry. This way, the "party" compensates for both their work AND play. Which begs the question? How many "Situations" does it take to screw in one light bulb? I mean, we need at least one Situation, Pauly D, Vinny, or Ronny to make the show like a "Shore" reality thing, but in this case, it just proves my point: the Situation, Pauly D, Vinny, and Ronny are all somehow synonymous to another. They're all hot and bothered, pumped up, GTL - in their hair gel, wifebeaters, and sick cars - conventional modern day guidos. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but again, the diversity here? Hmm...
One guy that doesn't fit that recipe? Salem - who is as career-driven and fashionably late as they come. He's "blunt, forward, and beautiful" (his words, not mine). As for Anni Mei and Karolina (even the rest of the girls)? Kind of the estrogen-y version of the guys: smexy, smart (business-wise?), and snappy. A Snooki vs. Angelina-esque catfight in the works here? I think so.
The catch? This Top 8 video "accidentally" slipped out of the Lake Shore YouTube womb well premature before its due date. Pardon my pun...everyone thought it'd be a girl, except it was a boy?
