I was perusing Netflix the other day, as one does when they have nothing better to do. There, I stumbled across a reality television show titled “Hype House.”

Now, I usually avoid any and all reality television because of its lack of authenticity. But I was bored, so I clicked on the trailer.

For those who do not know, the Hype House is essentially a collection of teenage TikTok personalities living in a multimillion-dollar mansion based in Los Angeles. It is a place where its members can easily collaborate and help grow each other’s followings.

It formed in December 2019 and generated some mega-famous social media influencers, such as Charli D’Amelio, Dixie D’Amelio and Addison Rae.

Since I am generally on the opposite side of TikTok, I was surprised to see several familiar faces in the trailer, such as Chase Hudson (also known as Lil Huddy), Nikita Dragun and Vinnie Hacker. So, like any other college student, I binged the series until the early morning hours with popcorn in my lap and a blanket over my head.

I finished it a few hours ago, so here are my thoughts:

It was incredibly dull.

As I said previously, I do not have much experience with reality television, but is it always supposed to be this boring to watch?

I thought that I clicked to be entertained by catfights and heavy betrayals. Instead, I watched millionaires complain about the lack of brand partnership videos and stress about the overall decline in viewer engagement.

I found the fly on my wall more entertaining than this show, to say the least.

It was also beyond depressing. Like, Netflix, why would I enjoy watching a show if its cast members are not even enjoying themselves?

Thomas Petrou, founder of the Hype House, seemed to be the most unhappy out of all of them. He was either stressed out about keeping a failing “business” afloat or crying on the floor about not wanting to go back to where he came from.

Again, I ask you, Netflix, why would I enjoy watching that? Why would I find that entertaining? Why would I want to watch someone suffer so tremendously?

I did not enjoy it in the slightest.

The depressing undertone actually fueled much of the main plotline – or rather the only plotline – of the show. Time and time again, I had to watch cast members fail to separate their work and personal lives, leading to more misery.

For example, Hype House member Alex Warren convinced his long-term girlfriend, Kouvr Annon, to go along with a fake wedding for a video. I had to watch Annon suffer in silence, saying she would marry Warren for real, as Warren insisted that he is only interested in faking it.

Why would I want to watch someone’s heart break in front of my eyes? Again, why would I find that entertaining?

Above all else, though, I was not too fond of the scripted stereotypes in the show.

I see them in every other reality television show, and I ignorantly went into this show thinking they would forgo that entire marketing strategy. Alas, they did not.

The producers and editors stereotyped all the cast members — some harshly and some not so harshly For example, the producers and editors painted House-member Mia Hayward as the “villain” who messed up the original dynamic of the Hype House.

Thousands of Twitter posts about Hayward can confirm this stereotype.

“Mia better be canceled after talkin sh!t abt chase for going after his dreams,” one user wrote.

Another user wrote, “this mia bitch on the hype house netflix show is so so annoying girl i’m gonna glue your mouth shut jesus christ.”

I found it distasteful to watch Hayward get blamed for the shipwreck when the ship was already sinking before she arrived on the scene. I mean, it seemed like everyone blatantly ignored the other possible factors contributing to the problems within the Hype House, such as Petrou stripping the fun out of it by adopting a more business-model approach.

And yet, Hayward went down with the ship.

The “Hype House,” while boring and depressing, did effectively portray how serious everyone takes their career in the industry. Most of its members came from toxic, abusive households, but they worked their asses off and made a name for themselves against all odds.

Maybe, if you are considering watching this miserable show, that can be your main takeaway: no matter how shitty your hand may be, you can still lay down a royal flush.

So, do not give up and keep chasing your dreams. But please do remember to put your mental health before your career, so you do not end up sad and depressed like most of the Hype House.