Parisa gets 'Real' for Gallatin coffee house
Kevin Fallon
Issue date: 10/3/07 Section: News
The Real World: Sydney" cast member and NYU alumna Parisa Montazaran returned to the Kimmel Center last night as a panelist for the Gallatin Coffee House Series. She offered the perspective of a reality television participant to the program titled "What's Real About Reality TV?"
"It was bizarre, gut-wrenching and totally nostalgic being back," she said. "It makes me miss NYU. I want to come back."
Montazaran spoke on the panel alongside Gallatin professors Susan Weisser, Karen Hornick and Stephen Duncombe, as well as several Gallatin students. Senior Bahar Atvur, a production intern, gave the professional point of view, while the fan perspective was provided by junior Frank Paiva, whose reality TV obsessions range from "Meerkat Manor" to "The Search for the Next Pussycat Doll," and junior Rachel Coleman, who paid to subscribe to the "Big Brother" live feed.
"The panel has a really nice dynamic," said Samantha Shapses, Gallatin assistant director of student life. "It levels the dichotomy between faculties and students and is really informative as well."
The premise of the Coffee House Series, Shapses said, is for the panel, seated at a round table in the center of the room, to have an informed conversation while the audience sitting around them listens in - like eavesdropping on intellectuals at a coffee shop.
Montazaran spoke freely about what it was like to be a part of the "granddaddy of all reality TV shows." She spoke about the difference between reality television and scripted television, the voyeuristic tendencies of reality TV viewers, the potential for reality TV to be a catalyst for social change and the moral ambiguity of reality TV.
She likened living in the "Real World" house to "living in a bubble" and mentioned her frustration with the limits that producers placed on her. She was required to call the producers every time she left the house, and for insurance reasons, she wasn't allowed to do volunteer work while she was in Australia.
"They would say, 'You signed up for this. You knew what you were signing up for,' " she said.
She loves singing, she said, but the producers wouldn't let her sing most popular songs because they're under copyright.
But Montazaran had a tip for any other reality TV stars with the same problem.
"Go to the gym with your iPod," she said. "That's the only place they'll let you have it. I'd go to the gym for hours a day and sing and dance. The producers yelled at me for that."
In the end, the panelists said they felt that the discussion was a success.
"The thing to take away is that reality TV has a whole lot more to it than whether it's actually real or not," Paiva told WSN.
Kevin Fallon is a staff writer. E-mail him at features@nyunews.com.
"It was bizarre, gut-wrenching and totally nostalgic being back," she said. "It makes me miss NYU. I want to come back."
Montazaran spoke on the panel alongside Gallatin professors Susan Weisser, Karen Hornick and Stephen Duncombe, as well as several Gallatin students. Senior Bahar Atvur, a production intern, gave the professional point of view, while the fan perspective was provided by junior Frank Paiva, whose reality TV obsessions range from "Meerkat Manor" to "The Search for the Next Pussycat Doll," and junior Rachel Coleman, who paid to subscribe to the "Big Brother" live feed.
"The panel has a really nice dynamic," said Samantha Shapses, Gallatin assistant director of student life. "It levels the dichotomy between faculties and students and is really informative as well."
The premise of the Coffee House Series, Shapses said, is for the panel, seated at a round table in the center of the room, to have an informed conversation while the audience sitting around them listens in - like eavesdropping on intellectuals at a coffee shop.
Montazaran spoke freely about what it was like to be a part of the "granddaddy of all reality TV shows." She spoke about the difference between reality television and scripted television, the voyeuristic tendencies of reality TV viewers, the potential for reality TV to be a catalyst for social change and the moral ambiguity of reality TV.
She likened living in the "Real World" house to "living in a bubble" and mentioned her frustration with the limits that producers placed on her. She was required to call the producers every time she left the house, and for insurance reasons, she wasn't allowed to do volunteer work while she was in Australia.
"They would say, 'You signed up for this. You knew what you were signing up for,' " she said.
She loves singing, she said, but the producers wouldn't let her sing most popular songs because they're under copyright.
But Montazaran had a tip for any other reality TV stars with the same problem.
"Go to the gym with your iPod," she said. "That's the only place they'll let you have it. I'd go to the gym for hours a day and sing and dance. The producers yelled at me for that."
In the end, the panelists said they felt that the discussion was a success.
"The thing to take away is that reality TV has a whole lot more to it than whether it's actually real or not," Paiva told WSN.
Kevin Fallon is a staff writer. E-mail him at features@nyunews.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 4
Kind of pathetic
posted 10/03/07 @ 9:36 AM EST
That WSN chose to focus on a fake celebrity instead of the actual content of the conversation.
Also, "She spoke about the difference between reality television and scripted television, the voyeuristic tendencies of reality TV viewers, the potential for reality TV to be a catalyst for social change and the moral ambiguity of reality TV. (Continued…)
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