The episode Kelley is referring to was edited kindly, painting Julie with a level of grace she did not afford the rest of her castmates, but the truth of what happened was known within the house then, it's known to us now, and it was more than enough to make Kelley feel unsafe in a way in which she couldn't stomach living under the same roof as this woman one day longer, and no amount of fancy brunches and fake Mardi Gras parades would convince her otherwise. I was asked on many occasions how many times I masturbated, and was baited into conversations of a sexual nature against my consent." "This is some of what happened: I was shown a photo of a cast member's husband's erection without my consent. "The reason for my departure was simple: I felt the need to protect myself, and I listened to my instincts," Kelley said on Instagram. When Kelley was shown one of these photos, she recoiled in what could have read as excessive disgust but, after posting some clarity to her personal Instagram, we now have the full story of what it was that actually caused her to react in that way, and why she decided to leave the house, and the show as a whole, days before filming wrapped on the season. In last week's episode we witnessed a moment that we now know to have been edited to give a certain narrative slant when Julie ran through the house showing what we were made to believe were shirtless photos that her husband Spencer had sent her. RELATED: "The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans" recap: Somebody's baby tonight There's a fine line between part of good television in a way that leads to more opportunities, and forcing television spectacle in a way that will likely land you in divorce court, or jail. In the original New Orleans season, as well as this "Homecoming," Julie Stoffer had a clear goal to do and say whatever it took to be remembered, without seeming to care much what it is that she'll be remembered for. But while it can often feel exciting to watch people bicker and screw up their real-life off-screen reputations, it also feels, as Kelley Wolf would say, "icky" or "fun on demand." It's also very obvious, as a viewer, which of the cast members, on any given season, is on the show to experience everything the opportunity has to offer in an organic way, and who is there simply to raise hell and make a big enough spectacle that their name gets remembered above all others. Since the franchise debuted with its New York season in 1992, creators Mary-Ellis Bunim (who passed away in 2004) and Jonathan Murray made no attempt to hide or make excuses for the fact that grouping seven very different strangers together in a new city, throwing obstacles in their way in the form of jobs, group trips, or carefully cast religious differences and sexual sure-fires, and then letting the cameras roll is a perfect recipe for good television. There is no mistaking that "The Real World" is packaged with a purpose. Or it can bury them deeper and deeper under a heap of their own demons and insecurities in such a way that they later reemerge as the main character in a "Babadook"-esque horror story of their own creation that should have been, could have been, a happy little look into the life of someone many of us entered into adulthood with. Processing the sum of its parts, this season of "Homecoming" shows how time can advance a person up a ladder of growth, with each passing day leaving them better equipped to handle what they'll come up against in the next. The eight episodes we were allotted to catch up with Melissa Beck, Danny Roberts, Kelley Wolf, Tokyo Broom, Jamie Murray, Matt Smith and Julie Stoffer were not nearly enough to, first, crack into the shell that reflexively went up around these people as a result of being shoulder-shoved into the public eye in this way for the first time in 22-years and, second, receive and then sift through all that we're shown and told. The finale of " The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans" felt abrupt.
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