The Simple Life - TV-PG

This show made Paris and Nicole household names.

TV Rating: TV-PG Network: E! Cast: Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie Genre: Reality TV
Available on: DVDDownload

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that stars Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie can be self-absorbed, snobby, and rude. Their behavior and attitudes are atrocious. Yet the portrayal of their actions in the fish-out-of-water scenarios they're placed in is so over the top that these socialites seem like caricatures.

Families can discuss the behavior of these young ladies. Is it appropriate to treat people the way they do? Do they play up their behavior for the cameras? They cheat, lie, and steal, yet the show has been successful. Are Paris and Nicole role models? Do teens think that these women are truly this vapid, or is all clever editing (and possibly even some scripting)?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Beth Pratt

It used to be that the uber-wealthy shied away from the limelight, preferring to live their life of privilege away from prying eyes. Not anymore! The new trend is for the offspring of the rich and famous to show the rest of us how they live.

Apparently being beautiful, rich, and famous for being famous wasn't enough for Paris Hilton (heir to the Hilton fortune and the star of an infamous adult video that's been circulated around the Internet) and Nicole Richie (daughter of singer Lionel Richie).

No, these young socialites were so desperate for attention that they agreed to be a part of a reality show that promised them some sort of adventure (given their sheltered existence, they assumed this meant a trip to Paris, France). Unfortunately for them, in the first episode of THE SIMPLE LIFE's first season, their private plane let them off in tiny Altus, Arkansas, instead, and this reversal of The Beverly Hillbillies was born.

On one level, teens will love seeing two spoiled girls being forced to do ordinary things such as going to the grocery store, sharing a bathroom with others, being interns, or taking care of someone's house. Their exaggerated reactions to everything from pig's feet to a pickup truck are funny.

But it's hard not to feel a bit manipulated by the editing. In one episode, Paris claimed to not know what Wal-Mart was -- she asked "Is that where they sell wall stuff?" It was later reported that she made this as a joke, but from the way it was presented, it certainly seemed like she was that oblivious.

Parents might want to talk with their kids about the way all of the characters are portrayed here. Are the show's producers combating stereotypes or furthering them? For example, the host family laughed when Nicole said she heard that people in the South hang out at Wal-Mart for fun (which appeared to dispel a myth about rural life), but producers cued Deliverance-type banjo music every time the family was shown working on their farm (which promoted the "country hick" idea).

Bottom line: This show may be a guilty pleasure for older teens and adults, but unless you want your younger kids imitating the socialites' bratty behavior, you're better off avoiding The Simple Life.

Better reality choices for teens include True Life and Run's House.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content The girls wear very revealing clothes (Paris's low-rider jeans were so low that her backside was pixilated). In an early season, the girls made out with local boys and joked about having a threesome with their host family's teen son.
Violence Chicken plucking and killing ticks is as bad as it gets.
Language Words like "bitch", "hell", "ass," and "sucks" are common -- and although words like "f--k" and "s--t" are bleeped, it's clear what they're saying.
Message
	Social Behavior While the girls are occasionally gracious to their hosts, they're more often rude and snobby ("This car is so ghetto" "I could never imagine living here -- I'd die"). They break rules, swear, smoke, give the finger to children, complain constantly, and more.
	Commercialism The show glamorizes the socialites' extravagant lifestyle. From private jets to shopping sprees at Dior (where Paris once dropped $1500 on a dog carrier without blinking an eye), the girls obviously subscribe to the "more is more" philosophy.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Nicole smokes, and there's drinking as well.