No room to grow up

TLC’s latest offering to the Indian audience is Mama’s Boys of the Bronx. To begin with, let me say that the title of the show is a slight misnomer. For, the five “personalities” (or lack thereof) in focus are, well, a little too grown up to be called Mama’s boys.

Mama’s brats would have been more appropriate, considering the inordinate amount of boisterousness and effrontery the five men make use as a trampoline to bounce around on.

Imagine this: You’re over 35, single and living with your parent(s). No, not because you’re unemployed, homeless, stupid or a bum, but because you choose to. Do you think it is for better or for worse? Well, for these five Italian-American men living in New York, everything under the sun and beyond is all hunky dory. For, they live with their folks who are eager and willing to take care of their sons, even after they’ve grown up.

Thirty-six-year-old Anthony gives up a managerial position to pursue his dream of producing a cartoon. A bit of a dandy that he is, he is also extremely finicky when it comes to choosing girls for himself, much to his mother’s annoyance. While Frankie decides to follow the family tradition by becoming a construction worker, he also longs to find a companion who can be just like his mother.

Chip, who is an eye-candy, owns a gym and is obsessed with fitness. He considers himself a self-made man owing to his rags-to-riches story. Meet Giovanni, a flirtatious fashion designer who works two jobs to keep his car running. Complementing the circle of Mama’s Boys is Peter, a math teacher with a steady girlfriend, with whom he is apprehensive about making a commitment. Probably the only semblance of maturity that prevails amongst the men.

At the outset, the lives of these men seem like the kind that can elicit jealousy and envy from anybody. Lavish houses in the Bronx, finely pressed clothes (done by their mothers, of course), fine food and wine, plenty of women, and parents who don’t exactly disapprove of their lives of debauchery. For starters, this may be fun to watch.

But, will it retain the initially hovering cloud of curiosity after a few episodes, will these men continue to fascinate us with their boorish demeanors, will we not be grossed out by the extra frank conversations between mother and son about carnal conquests? Well, let’s leave the questions for time and the boys to answer.

Now, these Italian-Americans are not like the typical ghetto folk you’d picture in your mind, like the ones you’ve watched in films. Not like Henry, Tommy and Jimmy in Goodfellas, and certainly not like the impoverished Johnny Boy in Mean Streets. None of those negative stereotypes here. These are well-fed men who drink heartily, own pizzerias, dab on expensive aftershaves and go dancing in expensive discotheques to pick up girls. Oops, we mean dates.

They live a luxurious life, neither compromising on the fun factor nor worrying themselves about the intensity of life or what the future holds for them. It is not just that the boys are unapologetic about their unconventional living arrangements, the mothers too dote on their ‘little sons’, nagging them about finding the perfect companion, preferably in an Italian girl.

Although a reality show, the series incorporates certain elements of situation comedies like subtle humour and showmanship. The sad part about Mama’s Boys, however, is that those men who could have been portrayed as endearing, childlike and merry sons have ended up being shown as tantrum-throwing, indolent adults who are incapable of taking care of themselves.

On the flip side, the boys have turned out quite alright, despite certain shortcomings. So, no harm, no foul, I guess. After all, we do watch reality TV for the whimsical tempers and not to keep track of precision.

If you have a mind lucid enough to keep judgement aside and watch Mama’s Boys of the Bronx purely for the 10 pm entertainment value and some odd laughs, feel free to take a bite from the series.