​RHOA: The Renaissance?

The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 15 got a lot right. It's moving back to privileging personal stories that put the women's conflicts in perspective. Producing the personal stories of reality stars grants interiority, rounds them out as three-dimensional people. There isn't much drama, as in personal conflict, in the life of a woman over 35. We typically no longer reside with our nuclear families or friends who are the sources of that type of drama. For RHOA to resonate again with large amounts of viewers who are the ages of women on the show, it's important to create stories that align with their stage of life. Producers are doing a good job, and much of it connects to the recasting of Sheree Whitfield.
 
My awareness of Sheree Whitfield proceeds RHOA. The network for which I interned in college produced a community affairs TV show about the Who's Who of Atlanta, and Sheree was featured circa 2004. At that time, she owned her boutique, Bella Azul (think that was the name). It was a beautiful place. She was married to her husband, NFL star Bob Whitfield. Football players and their wives, the rich ones, are influential in Atlanta, and in the South more broadly. They serve on boards and donate a lot of money to nonprofits. They give the staff free game tickets, pay for lunches, and donate supplies. It's awesome, and businesses love and respect them for it. Speaking as a learned professional, I knew Sheree was "the ish" in Atlanta, although I hadn’t met her. 
 
However, producers cultivated an image of Sheree as a perennial eff-up. Not sure if the series needed a designated villain or if she pissed off production and got a bad edit as payback. Whatever the reasons, we never saw Sheree as Sheree, frequenting exclusive celebrity spots, hanging out with her celebrity friends, attending amazing parties. Although Sheree had a background as a fashion entrepreneur, the show portrayed her as a "football wife" who up and decided to start a fashion line. This portrayal of Sheree made me disinterested in her story. It reminds me of the portrayal of Dr. Wendy Osefo. We never saw her nursing her newborn daughter. It's like the "new mother image" was occupied by Ashley. We never saw her cook for her family, although she states she does it every day. That domesticity is seemingly reserved for Karen, and often Gizelle. This season, we're seeing Sheree thrive unlike prior seasons.
 
The thing is Sheree is a stellar housewife. She exudes that OG (Original Girl is a term coined by Nene Leakes) effortless, over-the-topness, and it's magnetic. She and Marlo are the only true links to the OG era and to Nene Leakes. For that, she has the potential to woo back many fans of that era who were turned off by the Mob Wives (CBS) style drama that culminated with Season 9.
 
It's my fear that the personal story will start to wane, and subsequent episodes will focus on interpersonal strife. It seems RHOA producers are trying to court younger viewers who grew up watching The Bad Girls Club (Oxygen). The loyal RHOA viewers are Generation X and Xennials, who watched Kimora Life in the Fab Lane (Style) and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. We have a very different idea of reality TV. We want aspirational. That's literally Marketing and Branding 101 that you learn in undergrad. Viewers can take a lot from scripted TV characters and stories. We routed for romance between Erica Kane and Dimitri Marick of All of My Children (ABC), although Erica was a homewrecker. We were very much interested in who shot J.R. on Dallas (CBS). But Reality TV is a more vicarious experience, because viewers recognize what occurs impacts people's lives. The treachery, violence, and backstabbing doesn't work. We feel bad for these people. Why would I want to feel bad every week? I want to laugh, but not at the expense of a person's misfortune.
 
Producers should rethink Kandi's image for this reason. It seems like she (and Kenya) consistently has takedown relationships with other cast members. No one wants a friend who spreads rumors about how you make your money, no one wants a friend who yells out in public that they will blow up on your ass or head butt you, and no one wants a friend who tells you they can pay for every mf-er in here. Kandi has been one of my favorite artists since middle school. Her image on RHOA has been disappointing. I think producers assumed Kandi's large instagram following was the source of the massive viewership, but Nene's departure debunked that myth. Producers should explore Kandi's life as Kandi. We should see her at sports games, in meetings with the mayor, hosting Roc Nation lunches. Also, we need to explore why her family complains that she doesn't prioritize them. What's really going on there? 
 
The world is changing, and women over a certain age don't have (have never had) 1950 housewife lives. Black women have made more than their Black husbands due to racism. Black women have had to become "othermothers," which is why it's a term of published Black feminist thought. Many women can relate to Kandi, Marlo, and Sheree, but we need to see more authentic interactions like Marlo's therapy session with her nephews. That scene was so real; I almost called my mom to watch it with me. 
 
Overall, the season is going in the right direction. I just hope we don’t' end up back in the dungeon, but the presence of the volatile Martel Holt of Love and Marriage: Huntsville (OWN) suggests we will descend into excessive bickering. Let's get back to dramatic conflict. Dramatic conflict is defined as the following: a protagonist has a goal and there is strong opposition and stakes. Dramatic conflict is usually a question in the mind of the viewer like will Nene and Greg save their marriage and family with two kids in the midst of financial changes and friendship betrayals? Will Porsha rebuild her life and make it on her own after her husband blindsided her with a divorce, placing her in financial precarity? How will Phaedra, the "high-class attorney" (Nene's words), mantain a marriage with a formerly incarcerated person in status-conscience Atlanta? That's dramatic conflict. Kenya acting like an eighth grader and confronting Sheree about her date is interpersonal conflict. It's the producer's job to get to the stakes. Why would the audience care about this? Why are these grown women acting like this? How will it impact their relationships? Bring in real scenes at real events with the women's real friends and families. Feuds are great for scripted drama, but if  RHOA is going to return to greatness, it has to create balance by returning to personal and aspirational stories. Maybe we'll see a Renaissance.