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The Real World Brooklyn <em>Finally</em> Airs
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 8, 2009
Modified Jan 8, 2009
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 8, 2009
Modified Jan 8, 2009
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While we all wait for This Old House's first ever New York City project to air (being filmed in Brooklyn right now), we'll have to focus in on another house. The MTV Real World Brooklyn house is in Red Hook (as you already know, like it or not); this is their 3rd time filming the series in New York, but the first in the borough. While filming has ended, much of the cast (none of whom are New Yorkers) have decided to stay. Here's the first episode, which aired last night, in its entirety.
The most Brooklyn you'll get in the first episode is from the 2:23 to 2:47 mark. During this time they play some rap music and cram in the following shots: the Brooklyn Navy Yard, lots of signs that say Red Hook, old men playing cards outside, a guy flipping a pizza pie dough, graffiti, the Red Hook vendors and some kids street dancing! Then the attention goes to the Mormon roommate sitting in front of the East River on Fulton Ferry Landing, young Chet soliloquizes about himself and his fear of getting shot during his time in the borough—and at the blink of an eye we're all in Red Hook, roommates are choosing rooms, carefully edited clips create drama, and everyone wants to know who is gay. You can take Brooklyn out of the Real World, but you can't take the Real World out of Brooklyn. Or something.
So what did locals think of the cast invading their neighborhoods? Perhaps transgender Katelynn (who despite hating us is one of the more interesting "characters" on the show) sums it up best on her LiveJournal, nostalgically recalling: "all those disgusting hipsters in Williamsburg who would run up to the camera and tell us how much we suck." She continues, pitting MTV versus Hipsters (who to side with?!): "Riiight, because we're the reason the borough is experiencing wide-spread gentrification. Or maybe after the show airs all those shallow hipsters will move in, because, y'know, they haven't been doing that for the past decade."
Tagged
brooklyn
mtv
red hook
television
the real world
tv
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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