Desperate Scousewives Hits Our Screens - a Liverpool Woman's Verdict

So it's here, it's on our screens, get ready forI was ready alright - like the rest of the city - waiting in anticipation of how we were to be portrayed this time...

So it's here, it's on our screens. Get ready for Desperate Scousewives...

I was ready alright - like the rest of the city - waiting in anticipation of how we were to be portrayed this time.

During the opening scenes I was thinking, "Oh yes, lovely shots of the city, great scenery, architecture, stunning views of the river. Maybe this isn't going to be the way we imagined after all!"

Then I stopped and listened. Oh my word, the voice in the background was horrendous! Completely over the top and sorry, but if this was to be the first insight into Liverpool for people then my original fears were back!

In an hour of watching we were shown numerous girls flaunting it about in underwear, bad language, anal bleaching and to top it off, the 'Scousebrow'.

I have to admit it, yes, there are a few of these eyebrows knocking about the city but I highlight the word 'few', so please don't confuse this bad brow with the so-called 'Scousebrow'!

Regardless of the over-dressed, over-made-up, over-expressed accents, we do have many girls and boys like this in the city as I think most other cities do too, so we can't deny that we have a population like these so called 'Desperate Scousewives', but why do we need the whole cast to be the same?

The way I look at it is yes, be realistic, show these characters, and whether we love them or loathe them that's down to the individual, but please be fair and show the other characters that our city breeds too and let's give an overall image that we truly deserve.

In my own family alone I have a niece who is studying at university, cousins who have done the same, others striving hard in their careers and having to move away from loved ones to achieve their ambitions. Shouldn't we show these Liverpool girls too and applaud them for their hard work and determination?

As I don't know any of the cast personally, all I can judge is what I've seen on camera and this was my original point; in order to make reality TV interesting these days it's about a certain persona that these cheap shows keep churning out. But maybe we, as a viewing population, should shoulder some responsibility as if we didn't tune in, these shows would disappear as quickly as they have arrived.

As Scousers we are very proud and we wear our hearts on our sleeve and if we feel we're not being given a fair deal we'll think nothing of standing up and saying our piece.

I went online during the first ad break and to my surprise everyone on social media sites gave this show a real hard time and there was me thinking I was being a bit harsh - but that's because I wanted to show my city in the best light possible.

I do think some of the online critics were being unnecessarily cruel about some of the cast and again, it's unrealistic to deny we have characters like these in the city, but this is what I have previously stressed, the fact that around the country people very often make assumptions about us because of the way we are portrayed on TV.

Over the last few years, we had managed to turn our reputation around somewhat. We were awarded European Capital Of Culture 2008 and a lot of time and money has gone in to restoring the beautiful city we have today. But now, because of this show, here we are being ridiculed by the press and media once again!

My negativity towards the show comes from the fact that we seem to have made a carbon copy of TOWIE, only set in Liverpool. 'Big hair, false eyelashes and false tans' worked for them, so hang on, we've got girls like that, throw in some boys for them to argue and bitch over and hey presto, we have another TV show that will get half a million viewers!

Come on, couldn't we have been a bit more creative? Shown some more imagination and a lot more class?

So please, E4, if you are listening to the people of Liverpool, can I suggest showing the individualism that this great city deserves and show Liverpool people to be a bit more versatile than what reality TV has already delivered.

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