Argentine reality shows tan impressionantes

Argentine talks shows are amazing. I just watched four overweight teenage girls withstand a panel of shrinks and nutritionists and a studio audience scrutinize them physically and mentally. One girl's thin sister was brought up to the stage out of the audience. The hostess went on about how pretty she was and how much alike they looked and the heavy sister started crying. The camera panned in on her and the panel went on about how she was crying because, of course, she was comparing herself to her sister. Their was no shame in their game and the poor girl just stood there and cried. At the end a huge boy got up and danced with all the girls. It was hard to watch. The highlight was the hostess interrupting the weighing of each girl to see how they did after a week's regimen in order to read an advertisement off the teleprompter. She held up a box of pills to alleviate pms and gave a speil while the girls waited patiently behind her, busting out of their matching white tank tops and mini skirts. She finished and a spanish pop song exploded out of the speakers and everyone broke into line dancing.


The next show was hectic too - I didn't cry like I did for the fat girl, but it was rough. It's a show for older singles - late 30's to 40's and there were a line of guys and a line of women who got to vote for each other, see if they sync'd up, then go on a date with video camera surveillance for the following day's show. Kind of like the dating game but really candid about their feelings. There was a dude who talked about how he cries at night because he's lonely. Cut to the talk show hostess presenting a live commercial for anti-inflamatory cream.

Then there's the show that everyone seems to watch and I don't get it. It's their Big Brother - "Gran Hermano" that's amazingly boring. Footage of people sleeping, eating, and sitting around a house with nothing to do. Oh wow, here's a trailer for a show with a guy with tears streaming down his face. They're big on expressing sensitivity along with their machismo.

I just ate a spinach, cheese and pumpkin torte thing for lunch. They're big on pumpkin - pumpkin soup, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin pie. No wonder I love this place - steak, wine, sensitive dudes with great haircuts, and pumpkin. I'm lucky to be in Buenos Aires.