Winter House
Winter House
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~ winter-house ~ 2 years ago
Craig Conover is a "Nice Guy"

Well, it's Sunday and I've got time on my hands. I should probably read a book or work out, but I'd rather talk shit online about people I've never met. Seems healthy! Anyhow, today's hot take will involve The Most Popular Person on Bravo, Mr. Craig Altman Conover.

Although Craig has had quite the Bravo glow up over the last few years, I am proud to say that I remain steadfast in my extreme dislike of the man (and use of the word "man" is pretty generous here). I am also quite puzzled as to why he has become such a beloved figure.

When he made his debut on Southern Charm many years ago, he appeared to be a classic Lax Bro (what we in the mid-Atlantic East Coast call a douche who plays lacrosse...it's a very specific type). He was moderately attractive but arrogant, rude, untrustworthy, and more than a bit oily.

His main storyline consisted of lying, REPEATEDLY, to everyone (including his parents) about applying to take the bar exam while being addicted to Adderall. How adorable! Remember when, in arguing that chivalry wasn't dead, he said to Kathryn, "sleeping with 3 people at this table in 3 weeks isn't class so please don't talk to me about having class"at a dinner party in front of the entire cast? Wow, he really proved that chivalry is alive and well, huh? Remember when he lied to everyone about being in charge of JD's bourbon devision?

Craig Conover is a "nice guy." Not an actually nice person. A "nice guy." These are the dudes that believe they are nice when, in fact, they are not. During the season when he famously asked Naomie what was wrong with his sewing, he spent his time sleeping all day, not working, not showering, and occasionally embroidering things. Naomie was getting her masters degree at the time.

That was the season she asked him to help with a charity event for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti (which Craig, no joke, thought was a tsunami). Remember how, instead of doing the extremely simple task he was assigned (printing out items for the silent auction), he waited until the last second and nearly ruined the event? That was also the season he told Landon that his dream in life was to "not work." Interestingly, it was Shep, not Naomie, who most berated Craig for his lack of ambition, causing Craig to compare himself to an "abused wife."

Fast forward to the present time. Craig has a successful business. Cool! Good for him! Except his success has made him even more of an asshole. He spent the entire last season of Southern Charm ret-conning his past and making Naomie into a nagging harpie. Sir, please. You were a lazy, drunk, lying man-child who couldn't complete even the simplest tasks. Stop trying to make everything her fault. And the gaslighting was INTENSE. Every time he referred to Naomie he used the word "crazy." The way he spoke to her was disgusting.

And now we have to watch him on Winter House. The very first episode he throws around wads of cash so that he and Paige can get the primary bedroom. Speaking of Paige, he says that the two of them are an example of what a "healthy relationship" looks like. LOL. They had been dating for all of 6 months, most of which was ling distance. Then came the glass breaking, screaming, and refusing to clean up because he "has money." WOW, WHAT A CATCH THIS GUY IS.

Which brings me to the Luke and Jessica incident. I am ambivalent when it comes to Luke. I neither love him nor hate him. I appreciate that he is trying to change his fuckboi ways. He absolutely needs to work on reading people. HOWEVER. I do not think Craig's absolute meltdown was justified. Yes, Luke was touching Jessica when she didn't want to be touched. He however, did not know that she didn't want to be touched. The night before, in the hot tub, she straight up told Luke that she was into him. Verbatim.

At some point overnight, she changed her mind. OK, fine. She's totally entailed to do so. But he still thinks she's into him because she didn't tell Luke that she'd changed her mind. So he's still in heavy flirtation mode. Then Craig Hulks out and threatens to throw him through a window. And Luke is the villain here? Yeah, I don't see it that way. But everyone in the house, including sweet Jason, is "thankful" that Craig stepped in. Huh? He was a screeching, drunk, psycho. That whole scene was a master class on toxic masculinity.

The way Craig Conover speaks to women, including his romantic partners, is really problematic. I simply do not understand his appeal. At the end of the day, despite his claims on Winter House of growing up "poor," Craig is a typical upper middle class entitled white frat boy who now has enough success and notoriety to make him completely insufferable.

Thank you for coming to my CRAIG talk, which is a term I have just invented to describe a TED talk for gossip/trash talking.

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~ winter-house ~ 2 years ago
What do we think about Luke?

Another Sunday, another Winter House essay!

We've gotten to know Luke over several years, now. He's a bit of an enigma to me. How can someone so objectively hot strike out, nearly every single time he's interested in a woman?

Is he a fuckboi? Foe the first two seasons of Summer House, most certainly. Now? I think not. Is he a predator that touches women inappropriately? I also think not. Perhaps it's decades of internalized misogyny speaking, but I thought Jessica was kind of a dick when she very clearly said she was into him in the hot tub then abruptly decided she wasn't in the span of less than 24 hours. She has every right to change her mind but I'm not sure she was completely justified in making things as dramatic as they were. And now she's super into Corey because he's literally negging her on national television. Hmmmmmm.

And when Andy said on WWHL that "body language is communication" in response to a question about the unwanted touching? SIR. Have you met a straight guy? They are really not that perceptive. My husband is the sweetest man in the history of ever, but he's also a dude. Even after 15 years together, the guy cannot read my mind. I have to actually tell him what I want or what I'm thinking. If you think the average man can correctly interpret your body language 100% of the time then you live on a better planet than I do.

I appreciated that Luke really took ownership during that appearance. He seems to have used the incident as a learning experience, which demonstrates some growth (especially when compared to early Summer House). And now he's visiting DC and going to hockey games with Ashley. Do we like this? Do we like HIM?

And what do we think of the blind item submitted to Deux Moi in real time stating that Luke was kicked off the show for sexual assault? It was obviously someone in the house. Was it Craig? Was it Jess?

My take on Luke, as a GenXer whose definition of assault is most definitely (for better or worse) different from a younger person's, is that he's a flawed guy with a history of trauma who would perhaps not make an ideal partner (at least not right now) but seems to have decent intentions and an above-average sense of introspection. Then again, I also think Jessica is an obnoxious asshole. Someone on Twitter referred to her as "the prettiest girl in home school" and "dollar store Lindsay" and I kinda loved that. That's when it hit me how much I dislike her, so this take is CLEARLY biased.

Anyhow, what say you? Has Luke evolved or does this season of Winter House cement forever his reputation as a clueless womanizer? I think he's not a bad guy, and I'd pick him over Craig in a hot second.

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