In Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV, Jack Balderrama Morley presents a fascinating take on the houses that have been the backdrops of popular reality television shows, and how these have not only shaped programming for the genre but also reflect wider social, historical, and cultural trends in the United States.
Morley, managing editor of design magazine Dwell, examines the homes featured on several shows, including Selling Sunset, The Kardashians, and The Real World, and describes residences that are "more than stage sets for drama; they're real places swollen with the fantasies projected onto them." As our culture has become oversaturated by the projection of these fantasy spaces, Morley continues, "our homes have changed, too, with these dream facades sutured onto them."
Dream Facades discusses aspects of shows--like the conflicts that are driven by houses and home ownership in The Real Housewives of Atlanta--and then carefully describes the contexts that surround the construction of these houses, where they are located geographically, and the path that led to both their aesthetics and how they have entered the culture.
Houses are more than structures; they are a reflection of ideologies and aspirations. Dream Facades makes those connections explicit while also proffering ideas for future concepts rooted not in aesthetic choices, but in choices that foster communities and empower people to live supported and fulfilled lives. In other words: "If shellacked modernity can become boring enough, it can lead its audience to ask for something different. It can let us realize that we should demand more from our screens, ourselves." --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer