Editing The Real World (section)

===Behavior of housemates===
The early seasons have been reassessed in light of history, and in comparison to that of later seasons, particularly in terms of the cast. Writing in 2011, Meredith Blake of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' found the first-season cast's career goals to be "ambitious, articulate, and thoughtful", particularly in the context of the time when the show was produced, when cast members may have sought to be on TV to further their career goals, but not to be reality TV personalities, which was not yet a common goal at the time, stating, "What's so curious about the show's somewhat chilly critical reception is that, compared to today's reality fare—''[[Jersey Shore (TV series)|Jersey Shore]]'', the [[Kardashians]], the various ''[[Real Housewives]]—The Real World: New York'' now seems incredibly, achingly earnest, bracingly raw, and sweetly idealistic." Blake contrasts this with the casts of later seasons, such as that of 2011, who tend to be defined more by their pasts than by their career goals, and who are never unaware of their own onscreen "narrative".<ref name=TheAVClub/> In addition, the later seasons earned the series a reputation for immature or irresponsible behavior on the part of the cast,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/the_real_world_26/2011_Jun_07_san_diego|title=Real World returning to San Diego for its 26th season|last=Dehnart|first=Andy|author-link=Andy Dehnart|publisher=RealityBlurred.com|date=June 7, 2011|access-date=June 7, 2011}}</ref> which [[Nola.com]] has described as being "sometimes fit for a police report".<ref name=Nola.com/> On the final track of his ''[[Become the Media]]'' spoken word album, activist [[Jello Biafra]] discusses a conversation he had with ''[[The Real World: Seattle]]'' cast member [[Irene McGee]], who was slapped by castmate Stephen Williams, saying:

{{cquote|We know ''Real World'' is not the real world. I recently met a woman named Irene McGee who quit this show and said not even the house was real. The fridges were all filled to the brim with Vlasic pickles delivered daily by the crate load along with gallons of Nantucket Nectar. If she drank anything else, the crew took it from her hand and made sure the Nantucket Nectar label was facing the camera instead. When she walked out, another guy in the cast of ''Real World'' hit her and the camera guy did nothing ... When she spoke out, MTV sued her. And ''Entertainment Weekly'' rated Irene getting smash mouthed the 47th most interesting event on TV that whole year ... Can't you MTV think of a better way to raise audience awareness of domestic violence than to make it look cool?<ref>Biafra, Jello. ''Become the Media''; 2000</ref>}}

McGee has toured colleges to discuss [[media manipulation]] and the [[Deception|falsehoods]] of [[reality television]]. She later started a youth-oriented radio show/podcast, ''No One's Listening'', covering a wide range of pop-culture and media-related issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nooneslistening.org|title=Official Site of ''No One's Listening''|publisher=Nooneslistening.org|access-date=May 23, 2011}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=March 2023}}

The show has also been accused of encouraging or glorifying certain cast members’ alcohol abuse and sexual antics,<ref>Kaplan, Don. [http://www.nypost.com/seven/01092007/tv/real_world_off_to_sydney_tv_don_kaplan.htm "Real World' Off to Sydney"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415200657/http://www.nypost.com/seven/01092007/tv/real_world_off_to_sydney_tv_don_kaplan.htm|date=April 15, 2009}}, ''[[New York Post]]'', January 9, 2007.</ref><ref>Lindsay, Richard (July 9, 2015). [http://www.patheos.com/blogs/poptheology/2015/07/remembering-pedro-and-sean/ "Remembering Pedro and Sean — and why Marriage Matters"]. [[Patheos]].</ref> beginning with the show's [[The Real World: Las Vegas|2002 Las Vegas season]]. ''[[The Real World: Hawaii]]'' (1999) season was also met with concerns and criticism surrounding the glorification of alcohol on the show, notably with then-21-year-old cast member [[Ruthie Alcaide]]’s heavy drinking on the premiere episode; after a long night out, Alcaide blacked-out. She was filmed by the camera crew being cared-for at home by the other housemates, and even vomiting in the shower; eventually, an ambulance was called. After being hospitalized, producers were filmed speaking to Alcaide about her drinking, which, notably, did not immediately stop at that time.<ref>{{Cite news|edition=Final|page=3a|last=Clarke|first=Norm|title=Despite "Real World" conflict, Las Vegas" Trainor on best behavior|newspaper=[[The Las Vegas Review-Journal]]|date=July 14, 2003|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Jul-14-Mon-2003/news/21720599.html|access-date=January 31, 2011}}</ref><ref>Graham, Renee. [http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040926/news_1a26real.html "MTV's 'Real World' turns into 'The Carnal Camera Show'"], ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', September 26, 2004</ref><ref>Carlson, Daniel. [http://www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/reunited-the-real-world-las-vegas.php "Ooh Las Vegas: Just the Place for a Poor Boy Like Me"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929043603/http://www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/reunited-the-real-world-las-vegas.php |date=September 29, 2011 }}, Pajiba, June 12, 2007</ref>

There is a larger perception that the show has become increasingly superficial, with respect to the drama and angst depicted on the part of cast members. As critic Benjamin Wallace-Wells put it:{{cquote|No longer an outlet for [[Twentysomething (term)|twentysomethings]] to brood about their future careers, the show has become a cyclic three-month on-air party for young adults to mingle in hot tubs and obsess about the present. The locales have changed from creative meccas like New York and London to vacation spots like Las Vegas and Hawaii. MTV has rejiggered the show to require characters to engage in artificial, season-long contests or projects – like putting together a fashion show – which the characters embrace in the way most American teenagers experience spring break: as a big party.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[The Washington Monthly]]|url=http://www.c-ville.com/www/archives/2003/11-18-2003/asp/1.asp|date=November 18, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060324121714/http://www.c-ville.com/www/archives/2003/11-18-2003/asp/1.asp|archive-date=March 24, 2006|first=Benjamin|last=Wallace-Wells|title=Reality Killed the Video Star}}</ref>}}

A 2006 comment from ''[[LA Weekly]]'''s [[Nikki Finke]] reflects the same sentiments:{{cquote|The show that once seriously delved into hot-button issues like homosexuality, [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]], racism, religion and abortion was now purposely pushing someone's buttons to have that person implode on air.<ref>{{Cite news| newspaper=[[LA Weekly]]|first=Nikki|last=Finke|author-link=Nikki Finke|url=http://www.laweekly.com/general/deadline-hollywood/savage-tv/14381/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201070203/http://www.laweekly.com/general/deadline-hollywood/savage-tv/14381/|archive-date=December 1, 2006|title=Savage TV: From freak shows to freak accidents to freakin' mayhem. Reality goes wild|date=September 6, 2006}}</ref>}}

The [[Parents Television Council]], which has frequently criticized MTV, has also frequently criticized ''The Real World'' for its overtly sexual content.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/campaigns/MTV/main.asp|title=PTC campaign against MTV|publisher=Parentstv.org|date=August 12, 2005|access-date=May 23, 2011|archive-date=July 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110729140226/http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/campaigns/mtv/main.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> In addition, that organization contends that because MTV routinely reruns ''Real World'' episodes with a simple "[[Television content rating systems#United States|TV-14]]" rating without the "L" ([[profanity|language]]) descriptor, parents cannot block out the show with a [[V-Chip]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/clips/MTV/MTVRatings.asp|title=Content from "The Real World: Philadelphia" episode dated January 4, 2005|publisher=Parentstv.org|access-date=May 23, 2011|archive-date=June 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605034203/http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/clips/MTV/MTVRatings.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> although countering reports claim that the V-Chip does not totally rely on content descriptors added to the general ratings to work.<ref>{{cite press release|title=The Parents Television Council's Release is Flawed by Faulty Analysis and Biased Methodology|publisher=[[Television Watch]]|date=April 19, 2007|url=http://www.televisionwatch.org/newspolls/factsheets/fs001.html|access-date=August 2, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070901161221/http://www.televisionwatch.org/newspolls/factsheets/fs001.html|archive-date=September 1, 2007}}</ref> An episode of ''[[The Real World: San Diego]]'', that was broadcast in January 2004, came under intense criticism from both the PTC<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/action/Cable/content.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211155337/http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/action/Cable/content.htm|title=PTC Action Alert: Summary OF "The Real World" Content; parentstv.org|archive-date=December 11, 2007}}</ref> and [[American Family Association]] for its sexual content.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.afa.net/mtvboycott.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110107134428/http://www.afa.net/mtvboycott.asp|title=Boycott statement of the AFA from AFA Online; Accessed August 8, 2007|archive-date=January 7, 2011}}</ref>