True Beauty is a reality show/social experiment wherein 10 “beautiful” people are asked to stay in the same house and participate in different challenges throughout the season in order to determine who will become America’s Most Beautiful. However, the catch is that they are not only being judged based on their outer beauty but rather their inner beauty as well. Unbeknownst to the contestants, they are being monitored 24/7 by the judges on their interaction with fellow contestants and are being tested in various trap exercises which determine their personality and how they react to difficult situations.

True Beauty is truly entertaining mainly because of the obvious vanity of the contestants. Ego clashes against ego and the ensuing conflicts appeal to the funny bones of us regular people who think that most arguments in the house are lame and shallow. It is more funny in the sense that we all know that they are failing big time in the secret tests and yet they are still clueless as to why they are being eliminated. The viewers will also feel a bit sorry for some of the contenders for being totally out of touch with the virtue of humility and the concept of being nice to others who they perceive to be not as “beautiful” as they are, those who try to be cool all the time and are insensitive to the feelings of others, and those who truly believe that they can coast through life simply because of their looks.

During the final episode of the first season, where Julie, Billy and Joel were shown clips of their secret tests, I could just imagine the humiliation they felt in viewing their reactions to different scenarios, especially in those that do not show them in a positive light. But still, there was a lesson learned at the end. The experiment seemed to be a wake up call to the contestants in their dealings with others, and perhaps that dose of humiliation might have been the best medicine to open their eyes to reality and what is considered true beauty.

The experiment might have been easy to mount in the first season but I doubt if they can get the same results for the next one, since more people will be aware of the show, a bit like the Joe Schmo experiment 🙂 Generally, True Beauty is a good show. A lot better than most of the reality crap airing on television right now (with the exception of some).