The video: While MTV continues to put out feelers for its rumored Occupy Wall Street version of The Real World, the network just announced that it will use its documentary series True Life to cover the movement in the interim, airing an episode devoted to the protesters on Saturday, Nov. 5. A five-minute preview of True Life: I'm Occupying Wall Street focuses on a 23-year-old male protester attempting to rally his fellow occupiers to clean up Zuccotti Park before the city kicks them out. (Watch the video below.) Past True Life subjects have included I'm Bipolar and I'm Addicted to Crystal Meth… as well as I'm Horny in Miami and I Have a Hot Mom.
The reaction: This could be either "insightful or ridiculous," says Hillary Reinsberg at Mogulite. In either case, it's completely predictable, says Rosie Gray at The Village Voice. "MTV's modus operandi is to take organic youth culture," and market it until it becomes "depressing and corporate." And while it's admirable of MTV to try to raise awareness about OWS among young people, says Drew Grant at The New York Observer, turning the movement into a profit-driven reality show might undermine the protesters' values. Watch the preview:
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