‘The Real World’: What would Jesus do?

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Well, for starters -- and I’m just guessing here -- I don’t think Jesus would go on ‘The Real World.’

In the season finale, both Davis and Stephen had crises of faith: Davis has a drunken hookup with a guy he met in a bar; Stephen’s flirting with Jenn turned into some heavy petting. All well and good and typical ‘Real World’ behavior, except that the two have significant others outside of the house and after their flings, they were overwhelmed with guilt.

Stephen attended church to get his head on straight -- he realized the Mercii, his hometown honey, would be profoundly hurt by his liaison with Jenn. While he didn’t flat out confess his indiscretion to her over the phone, he came to the realization that his actions would have consequences down the road. (Yeah, televised games of Seven Minutes in Heaven generally do have that side effect.)

Davis’s meltdown was much more affecting, as he began sobbing uncontrollably and questioning how he could be a good Christian, since he felt that being gay was at odds with his faith. Stephen -- originally the most wary of his gay roommate -- laid it out straight: It was up to Davis to love himself and, in turn, his religion.

It was a nice human moment that showed an inkling of what ‘The Real World’ was originally supposed to be about -- overcoming stereotypes and prejudices.

But Davis’s distress was fueled, in part, by alcohol. And while I’m not suggesting that ‘The Real World’ become a teetotaler’s convention, it’s worth noting that in every single episode the housemates were pushed over the edge by about four beers too many. In the movie Beerfest (obviously my film preferences match my outstanding taste in TV) there is a hilarious scene where Jay Chandrasekhar has a few too many, and imagines he’s a suave ladykiller being effortlessly alluring. Actually, he has a cardboard beer case on his head, he’s drooling on himself and slurring his words as he lurches around the bar.

That’s what watching this entire season of ‘The Real World’ was like: they rarely took off the beer goggles, even to look at themselves.