E! I beg you to please stop making shows! You're awful at them! This show is NOO exception!
Basically, I knew this was going to be a dud going into it, I just wanted some perspective first. The potential this show could have had, though! It is a great idea, but the details that would have made it amazing seem like they never occurred because the writers are just not smart enough. Face it, E!, you are not smart enough to make shows and your audience isn't either.
Let me tell you what this show COULD have been! This could have been about a lower actress, who had the opportunity to work with a famous and respected actor. The two mildly date, and she's asked to be in an arranged and paid marriage. So the show already has that part down. Here is the direction it SHOULD have gone in: the marriage is controlled by a religious, or influential, and powerful cult that the man is a part of, and the actress is persuaded by money and by the Actor himself. The contract would explicitly say how she's supposed to act in public and in private, what she's allowed to ask and what she isn't, where she's allowed to go alone, where's she's allowed to travel and shop, who she's allowed to be friends and acquainted with. There would also be specific guidelines to children; how many children they're allowed to have, when she should have them, what she can name them, what schools they'll attend, what they can be taught, and what friends they will have. And all of this is done to please the future husband, as well as the cult.
The twist is that once the contract is signed and they're married, it turns out to be a loveless and miserable marriage, because the husband is more concerned with himself and his cult. And the wife is now stuck in a contracted marriage, with no way out because she is a part of a "perfect" marriage, and soon-to-be perfect family, and perfect families and marriages don't break up.
Again, so many things could have been done with this concept. There could've been moments when she realized she hates her husband, but she loves his children, because they're her children, as well. Moments when she would ponder committing suicide or murder against her husband, but then she'll realize that she cannot leave her children, so she'd ponder killing them and then herself. Moments when she tries to take her kids and run away, but her husband threatens her by saying that he'll kill his own children if it meant keeping her from taking them from him, or threatening to send the children away and have her committed to a psych ward for being "psychotic", and threaten to make sure she never sees her children for the rest of her life. There could have been moments where she would be given the opportunity to leave her husband and escape, but at the end of a season finale, you see that she's with him at a public event, showcasing their "perfect" family and lives.
This show could have shown the physical and mental abuse that is, many times, associated with this kind of stuff. It could have shown him abusing her, and her having to cover the bruises up, like covering everything else up. It could have shown him raping her, in order to get her pregnant. It could have shown the drastic measures she would take to have a miscarriage or an abortion, and how she would always have security detail to always keep an eye on her. It could have shown her wrestling with thoughts of smothering her own children and then killing herself, just to set them all free of a lifetime of misery. It could have shown her always being haunted by her husband and his constant threats of what he would do to her and the children if she were to ever try to put one over on him. It could've shown the husband having countless affairs, and her having her own affairs, but her lovers would "vanish" or end up dead. It could have show the wife feeling so stupid and guilty for being so naive and falling for all of the husbands lies, and blame herself for being blinded by the money, the fame, and the picture-perfect image of her and the perfect actor. The possibilities are endless!
The point of the marriage is to make the actor look normal and perfect, and that perfection would be "credited" to the cult, by the actor. The actor gets control, money and fame, and a "perfect" life to cover up all of the imperfections of his personality and his "secrets," while the cult gets recognition, money, and respect. Yes, this is just like Scientology, and many other manipulative things in this world, such as the government.
This could have been a controversial and riveting show about religious cults, the government, marital problems. But most of all, this could have been a show about a woman becoming stronger, and learning to fight for herself and her children, and overcome abuse and control. This could have been a great message to send to many women out there, who could find their strength in a show and a character like this. But E! went and made it into a cheesy, 15-year-old's fantasy.
Hopefully, a well-respected and able-bodied cable channel can give this idea justice! It should have a quality and mature aspect to it, as well as a mature audience. It should definitely not be PG-13, and it should not be on a channel known for reality crud like the Kartrashians.
