The Reality Show
- Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Do you agree with Larissa's mother that Mo'Nique really wasn't that interested in actually helping the girls become better people, and that the whole 'Charm School' thing was just a coat of new paint over a cheap competition reality show? Or do you think Mo'Nique did the best she could considering it was a reality show, and that she genuinely did want to help the girls mature but that some of the girls were just beyond her help?
- Was Mo'Nique really as horrified and offended as she claimed to be over Brook's slutty behavior, or was she faking it because she's pretending to be the dean of a charm school? Mo spends most of the reunion time with Brook Slut-Shaming her for her wild ways, but then again, this is the same Mo'Nique who gets on stage and tells jokes about tricking her husband into a rimjob or her first time trying anal sex.
- Were the judges too harsh and unfair for eliminating Heather for playing the victim, considering how her things were stolen, or were they justified in their decision on eliminating her?
- Was Larissa's expulsion due to the fact she hid (stole) Leilene's photos and framed Schatar for it, or more that she continued to lie about it until the truth was forced out due to Shay snitching on her? Had Larissa just admitted to the act after Schatar's elimination it's entirely possible she would have avoided punishment, since Schatar being framed for stealing due to her history of being a Smug Snake and a thief could have been seen as Laser-Guided Karma (and Schatar did get away with stealing from Heather in episode 2 and not only avoided any consequences, but won that challenge).
- Base-Breaking Character: Is Schatar a lovable master manipulator who was unfairly eliminated when she arguably had more poise than many of the other girls, or did her Smug Snake ways finally catch up to her to justify her elimination, and her journey on the show just a demonstration of how fake she was, not actually learning anything? Really, fans were upset at Larissa and Shay but fans already hated them, and most people seemed more upset they got away with their con as opposed to the show actually being unfair to Schatar.
- First Installment Wins: The first season featuring exclusively Flavor of Love contestants tends to be considered the 'best', or at least the season the most people actually watched. Future seasons that changed the host and started adding Rock of Love girls were not as popular.
- Fountain of Memes:
- Despite being one of the most controversial contestants, Larissa has a lot of memes.
- Monique speaking to Schatar about "clownery" is also a popular meme.
- Mo'Nique's lecture of Pumkin also spawned a few Twitter memes.
- Harsher in Hindsight:
- Despite Larissa being immature and throwing insults at Monique due to how classy she was, Larissa turned out to be right years later the show. It's been reported that Monique not only gives her husband a pass to cheat, but she is also acting unclassy by throwing shade at other famous actors and figures.
- Similarly, Sharon Osbourne was trying to teach the Rock of Love women to have more class (which ended up being undermined after she poured a pitcher on Megan's head to initiate a fight with her at the reunion, where the former was portrayed as being in the right). After many of her controversies years later, especially during her time on The Talk, any lessons from her are looked at with doubt.
- Heartwarming Moments: When Saaphryii wins Charm school and Leilene is graceful about her defeat. It helps considerably that during the final ceremony Leilene is offered a modeling contract with judge Keith Lewis's talent agency, so although she didn't win, she was given an opportunity for employment to support her children.
- When Shay and Saaphryii finally reconcile, also after Shay is given the opportunity to eliminate one of the remaining girls after they all ganged up on her she can't bear to end one of their dreams, and Mo'Nique tells her she's finally become a grown woman.
- Memetic Mutation: "Oh my God! Is this who we are? Is this what we represent?"
- Moment of Awesome:
- When Saaphryi drags Leilene out of the bar and speaks her mind about her doing whatever she can to take care of her kids and she's a damn good mother.
- When Monique finally expels Larissa from Charm School!
- Questionable Casting: All three hosts of the show could be called into question for their credentials in telling anyone about etiquette and proper respect.
- Mo'nique is a stand-up comedian who is not afraid of being raunchy on stage, talking about her kinky sex life with her husband (whom she allows to cheat on her), while often making jokes about how all women are hoes and can't be friends.
- Sharon Osbourne found her fame on a reality show where she constantly played up having to play babysitter for her drug-addled husband Ozzy Osbourne. Recent years have also not been kind to show Sharon as a reasonable figure.
- Nicki Lake was the host of her famous Talk Show in the 90's which fell into the same rabbit hole many others did around that era, focusing much less on actually informing or helping people, and more pointing and laughing and exploiting people for views.
- Never Live It Down: Megan from Rock of Love Charm School will always be remembered for two things; for being that idiot that caused trouble and who even mouthed off to Sharon Osbourne at the Charm School reunion show (and got a pitcher of juice dumped on her head in the process) and for her infamous Megan Wants a Millionaire series where a contestant murdered his wife and then committed suicide.
- Shocking Elimination: Courtney in the first season. While every girl expelled before her had an overarching flaw that kept them from improving, Courtney was the first to be eliminated for not needing Charm School as much as the others.
- They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
- The second season only using girls from the less popular Rock of Love series hurt ratings quite a bit.
- In the third season they decided to use the girls' silly Flavor of Love nicknames instead of their real first names, seemingly missing the entire point that the show was supposed to teach them to act like real woman as opposed to the caricatures that they had been made into.
- Wangst: Thela crying over the broken can opener was expected to be taken seriously. Even Leiliene points out on how petty it was for Thela to make an ordeal out of something so trivial.Thela: It's like I'm being punished!!
- The Woobie:
- Leilene lost her mother when she was young, she's a single mother who's husband left her for another woman, and she's a constant target for bullying and manipulation. She really needs a hug.
- Krazy can come off as this. In her elimination interview (which was a deleted scene of the show), she talks about how she wish she never let Schatar get the better of her. She also learns her lesson about not playing the victim and that people will be very grimy and selfish. Even one of the producers felt bad for her and hugged her.
- Bubbles in the Ricki Lake season.
- Saaphryi in the episode where the girls had to donate their clothes and the people running the drive kept deeming her things worthless, which drove her to have a meltdown. It was later explained by her to Mo'Nique that it all stemmed from when her father died when she was a child and how traumatized she was by both his death and how she came home soon after he passed and found strangers buying her belongings for much less than its original worth. It then becomes heartwarming after Mo and Leilene managed to get her donated boots back to her.
- Darra was subjected to fat-shaming and overall humiliation in both Flavor of Love and this show by her fellow contestants and even from Flav himself. The fashion show episode is especially cringe-worthy, due to the blatant fat phobia.
