After disrupting the city with cameras and augmented reality television personalities, the 28th season of MTV’s The Real World seems to have finally left Portland. For myself and many other Portlanders like me, this also means a welcome relief from the types of people such a show appeals to.
After disrupting the city with cameras and augmented reality television personalities, the 28th season of MTV’s The Real World seems to have finally left Portland. For myself and many other Portlanders like me, this also means a welcome relief from the types of people such a show appeals to.
Corinna Scott/VANGUARD STAFf
The cast, rumored to be boarding in the Pearl District, was primarily spotted in Northwest and Southwest Portland during the August–October filming. Fans with too much time on their hands even created Twitter accounts, such as @realworldpdx and @RealWorldPDXspy, and tweeted sightings around town.
While a decrepit reality show in Portland would normally cause mild distaste, at most, TRW intruded on my environment by having its cast work at the local Pizza Schmizza Pub and Grub.
The little pizzeria, located on Southwest Fourth Avenue and Montgomery Street, had seven cast members attempting to serve pizza and drinks.
Having lived across the street from Schmizza for more than two years, I was a bit surprised when I started seeing overcrowded sidewalks and expensive camera equipment being loaded out of vans. It quickly became apparent that it was because of a reality show. Much to my dismay, they’d be infiltrating my environment for several months.
It’s not the first time camera crews have upset the balance on campus. Leverage filming during last winter’s finals week interrupted the flow of foot traffic by monopolizing Urban Plaza. But the show did bring the school revenue through filming and parking charges, and it was only on campus for about two weeks.
TRW, staying in Portland for around three months, created a completely different type of annoyance for students who happened to stumble into Pizza Schmizza. The pub, with its outside picnic benches and eccentric inside decor, is a mix of sports bar meets Portland-cool.
Though there’s an overabundance of good food and microbreweries here, sometimes a $2 slice of pizza and $3 well drink is too irresistible for a poor college student to pass up. This led me to frequent the pub more times than I’m proud to admit, and I’ve noticed over the years that the usual patrons include a few students, a group of guys in their 30s watching a Timbers game and possibly a couple on a disappointing date.
This fine quasi-alcoholic crowd abruptly transformed into young 20-somethings vying for the camera’s attention. Normally quiet weekday afternoons transformed into a crowd of women wearing several pounds of makeup and men whose hats were angled in impractical ways.
Essentially, “bros” had invaded my turf. The atmosphere changed so dramatically that I and other regulars avoided going during filming hours. I’d head out in hopes of getting a slice only to head back home in disgust, stomach growling.
During the times my hunger won over my indignation, I quickly regretted my decision. At one point, a cast member yelled across the bar at a friend, literally calling out every form of “bro” he could think of.
Although the cast and filming finally stopped popping up downtown, and related Twitter accounts have started growing stale, the repercussions of MTV’s presence in Portland is concerning.
Many Portlanders pride themselves on the city’s affinity for the offbeat culture we’ve created, including odd clothing, food and music tastes.
I can’t help wonder how TRW will choose to portray our fair city. The image could end up drawing in people that some of the current population would find distasteful. A show that still somehow draws in a couple million viewers could potentially distort the culture we’ve lovingly built.
Over the last five years that I’ve lived here, I’ve evidently bought into what I once thought was an absurd level of obscurity that permeates our city. Regardless of how the show depicts us, at least we can find solace in getting a few bros out of our local watering holes.
I too live across the street and agree with your article. Finally, Schmizza is returning to normalcy.
The show brought a lot of jobs & positive exposure to our amazing city. Hopefully highlighting it in a way that would encourage young people to visit. Bummer your local pizza joint wasn’t the same. Remember, the owner signed up for it. You’ll get over it. Portland benefited greatly which hopefully is enough to squelch your disappoinent. Take care Bro
You have only been here for five years? As a born and raised Portlander I have way less care about this than you seem to. I can’t wait to see how they portray my fine city.
Also…you do realize that Pizza Schmizza is a chain and you are by no means required to frequent just one specific one, right? Their pizza isn’t even as good as the MANY other options near you.
Leave campus once in awhile and see what the entire city has to offer.
You’ve got a lot of hate in your heart. Relax man.
Portland’s “offbeat” and “unique” culture is annoying and pretentious. It takes on a mindset of it’s own that it is somehow better than other microcultures and that it is “cooler” and “hipper” than the hipster populations that are everywhere.
I love how much the city is made fun of in the show Portlandia.
I hope the show changes the culture.
It’s the “old school crew” that have lived here for five years that ruined it for me (by the way, the invasion started long ago, you are a part of it). When I was a kid, culture/hippsters were tolerable. I remember skating the brewery block docks when there was a brewrey there. That wasn’t five years ago transplant! You helped to create nothing (probably helped to ruin it with your “local” points of view). By the way, no problem being a transplant, just don’t tell me how you helped to build our “culture” when what you refer to has been here for way longer then you. five years… you make me laugh…
I hate when comments sections get totally off topic. Did this show impact your lives in any way? I do agree that this show has become a silly worthless endeavor. Originally when both creators/producers were alive, the show brought together young adults to help them see and experience (and let their mostly teenage/young adult audience see) different points of view, different cultures through travel, as well as getting special internships. I always thought the internships were an effort to allow the cast members to experience a potential future that may be otherwise unlikely or out of the realms of their consciousness. I thought that the show was trying to show it’s cast members and audience that your life is your own to determine and if you can dream of it and work towards it, you can realize all types of things. Now you have to be attractive and social and that’s it. Real World is a piece of cr*p that only allows 7 strangers to have temporary fame for doing nothing else that being selected to be on tv.
I just want to talk about how hideous their apartment was. Who did that?