Bewitched by Benjelle -- originally published 8/06

I'm a horrible person, you know. Shallow and flaky with a taste for instant gratification and limited will power. I've done terrible things, things I would have disdained, ten years ago:
°I've subscribed to US Magazine, and Cosmo.
° I've bought and read romance novels voraciously, and condemned my sorority sisters to the same addiction. (although I like to think my standards have risen in recent years.)
°I joined a sorority.
°I bought a "name" handbag.
°I wear makeup, and color my hair.
°The only thing standing between me and a bi-weekly manicure is the necessity of paying the water bill. Oh, and groceries.

Yes, I balance upon the slippery sloap to total ruin. Two things have saved me, I believed. I still bargain hunt in thrift stores, and I've never been bewitched by a reality tv show.
I've obsessed over characters on The X Files and Daria, and over the writing in a few movies. Survivor, Amazing Race, Fear Factor, Bachelor ... they all passed me by. I was a little cocky, I admit. I had no interest in The Real World. Nick and Jessica who? (The historical reality shows on PBS were a trip, but I never watched religiously.) The Simple Life was fascinating in a horrific train-wreck way, but I only caught a few episodes in passing. American Idol? I may be the only person on the continent bored by Simon Cowell.

So, I'm a horrible person - a flake, a source of pained bewilderment to my parents, a traitor to my youthful ideals. But I never was swept up into a reality show craze.

Until this summer. Yes, you know it's coming. I've fallen completely into the pop culture trap. I'm obsessed with Donny and Benjy, Benjelle. I caught the last of the auditions, and the hip hop booty rocky was hot.

But the Cha-Cha. Oh, the Cha-Cha. And cynic that I am, I thought wow! great acting. And then the Pop Jazz number, with the neck nuzzle at the end. And Goddess, did you see that waltz? Doneylle and Benjy let us all watch as a wonderful magic was born.

Are they? Aren't they? Well of course not, Benjy will stay a virgin til he's married. But they're in love, they have to be! No, they just figured out how to play the game. Who the hell is Tahir?

Over a few short weeks the Power Couple was forged, and from my seat it looks rock solid. Romantically involved or not, Donny and Benji appear to have found a supportive, loving relationship that most of us would pine to have.

And the beauty of it? These two were the oddballs out. The geek and the too old wrong body type. They were supposed to tear each other to shreds for America's brief amusement. Instead, they build to each other's strengths, and shore up each other's weaknesses. Instead, they've captivated me.

I lurk on the boards, I review those magic moments on stage and in the studio, I scrutinize the background shenanigans accidentally caught on film. It's too easy to forget that these are real people, however staged the "reality show" is, and that they have a right to their privacy.