Why is it more intriguing to be left in the dark when it comes to the goings on in closed societies than it is to actually go inside?
I’m glad you asked. Because once we’ve got full access, the mystery disappears.
I mean, whoever thought we’d be allowed inside the lives and doings of Mafia families, the Vatican and even a plural marriage? And what about the Amish? Maybe they can’t own TVs, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be on TV!
Is nothing sacred anymore? What happened to omerta, for God’s sake?
Apparently a secret society isn’t worth the paper its secret oaths are printed on without a reality show of its own.
The latest never-before-allowed-access group that’s showing up on TV more than New Jersey Italians and Bayou swamp people is the Romany, otherwise known as Gypsies.
First there was “My Big, Fat Gypsy Wedding,” and starting tonight, “American Gypsies,” an inside stay with the Johns, the Gypsy family that owns the psychic shops around NYC.
I’d say who cares, but I’ve probably been to every single one of them at some time or another. Hell, I’m still mourning the loss of the Gypsy Tea Room, so, yes, I do care.
However, “American Gypsies,” has made me care not quite as much as I used to. Access and all that.
Not that this family of five adult sons, along with matriarch, Tina, and patriarch, Bobby Sr., aren’t fascinating. They are. I just don’t know if I want to live with them and all their unnecessary drama.
Here’s what’s up: Middle son Bobby Jr. wants to modernize. Not become gaje (Americanized) or anything, but he does want to allow his kids to break out of the mold.
This translates to his son Chris opening a psychic shop, even though only females run those shops. Unfortunately, Bobby Jr.’s two teenage daughters, Amanda and Vivian, don’t want to be psychics — they want to be Demi Lovato.
So, Bobby Jr. lets them do the unthinkable: take acting lessons. Gypsies are forbidden to fraternize or learn from gaje and Romany kids do not even attend regular school, let alone acting school.
Grandma Tina, furious, sternly lectures Amanda and Vivian, “This is what Gypsy women do: They cook, they clean, they dress their husbands, they make money.”
Fortunately for tradition, the girls have zero acting talent.
The show is best when we are allowed inside the real secret world — Gypsy court with the elders. It’s scary, it’s fair, it’s final and it’s fascinating. I’d love to see more of that, (any) psychic readings and fewer family poker games.