Romania's nouveau riche and "across-generational" relationships

Now speaking of the indirect effects of the EU On the streets of new member - Romania's capital Bucharest intergenerational couples are increasingly frequent - and visible.   But apparently as Radio Romania International's Iulian Muresan reports it's apparently not because Romanians have successfully bridged the generation gap.   Quite on the contrary... It's all about money.

"No Comment by Monica Columbeanu" is a reality show about the life of a couple. Irinel is a rich middle aged little man and Monica is tall, just finished high-school and used to be poor. Their life in front of the camera is a complete bore. Indefinite shopping... But people watch the show, apparently paid by Irinel. Why? Psychologist Aurora Liiceanu attempts an answer:

"If they are so happy together my question is why they are not self-sufficient as a couple. I don't see why they need us. Why do they need an audience to watch him taking a shower or to watch her giving birth. That makes me think that it's a wicked combination between inner emptiness and exhibitionism on the part of the protagonists and the again inner emptiness, frustration and voyeurism on the part of the viewers. As French author Frederic Beigbeder said, happy people do not consume. He wouldn't pay for this show if he were happy."

This show has managed to split Romanian society in two. There are people who find it pathetic and disgusting. In the opposite camp there are those who don't necessarily love the show - it's not something one can really enjoy - but they watch it and say that the critics are just envious of the happy couple. But some of the critics may be right in saying that there's a dangerous facet to the whole story. The danger would be that teenage girls would give up all their aspirations in life to marry a rich old man and go shopping all day long. Maxim is a life-style magazine that mounted an editorial campaign aiming to make young girls aware that they don't necessarily need to quit school, go into modeling and marry a rich guy, to make money and fame.

Dragos Vasile, editor in chief with Maxim Romania:

"It's a bad example for the society, that type of relationship, especially if that relationship is such a media even like in Romania. The young girls have many opportunities in life. Not only modeling, so our stand was something like, you are a teenage girl, you want to make something with your life, you have a lot of opportunities. So do something with your life, go to school, study, I don't know, do something useful. Don't think about getting married to a billionaire."

The critics of the show hoped that the National Audiovisual Council in Romania could do something about it. Well, banning hidden publicity in the show was pretty much everything they could do, as Cristina Trepcea, a member of the council says:

"The good taste and the bad taste is not a question of the law, it's not something that it's good or bad. We realized they are making money through selling publicity, so we started to be concerned about the illegal publicity within; showing what they drink, where they buy their clothes and what kind of clothes they're wearing, it's very easy to see the brands, the stores, the firms and everything. It's purely illegal. "

And so the show goes on. Monica has recently given birth to a child, with live transmissions from the hospital. And they live happily...

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