Princesses: Long Island, a reality show that premiered on Bravo last Sunday, has caused quite a stir in its first week on the air, although some question whether it’s really based in reality.
The show provides a narrow representation of the Island by exclusively focusing on the lives of six women in their late 20s who come from affluent areas and live luxurious lifestyles courtesy of their parent’s income. These privileged “princesses” include Amanda Bertoncini from Great Neck, Ashlee White from Roslyn, Casey Cohen from Jericho, Chanel Omari from Great Neck, Erica Gimbel from Old Westbury and Joey Lauren from Freeport.
“I work my magic. I always get my way,” is a motto of Ashlee, who claims to only wear heels and who had a worker at a nail salon carry her to her BMW so that she doesn’t have to wear the salon’s “flat” shoes.
She famously referred to the Village of Freeport as a ghetto, a comment that stirred up controversy and prompted the creation of the Facebook group “Boycott Princesses of Long Island,” which had nearly 4,000 likes as of this post–Long Islanders as ashamed of the show as New Jesey was of the fist-pumping antics portrayed on MTV’s Jersey Shore.
Joey matter-of-factly stated that, “A typical Long Island girl is so into status. She usually drives a BMW, shops at Roosevelt Field mall, has a Prada bag, and her mom has big boobs.” She also said, “The car you drive, the bag you have on your arm, the guy you date, is pretty much who you are in Long Island.”
Chanel sterotypically added that “A typical Long Island girl is looking for a Wall Street, doctor-lawyer kind of guy.”
The show also plays up Jewish stereotypes as the title of the first episode “You Had Me at Shalom” suggests. The show opens up with an intro that zooms in on a synagogue and includes a voiceover of Chanel stating that
“There’s an old Jewish proverb that says, ‘When you marry an old maid, you get a faithful wife. But let’s be honest: no guy on Long Island is going to fall for that one.”
A majority of the women cast for the show are Jewish, including Ashlee, who takes pride in labeling herself as a “Jewish American Princess.”
“It’s definitely a Jewish thing, and kind of a Long Island thing,” Chanel said about still living with her parents.
The second episode airs at 9 p.m. Sunday on Bravo.
