Not Here to Make Friends #3
140 x 215 mm, 96 pages
Oakland, USA
Occasional
First published in 2020
Editor: Everett Epstein
Design: Elena Foraker
Not Here to Make Friends is a riotous new zine for reality TV enthusiasts. This third edition—or ‘season’, as they dub it—is a neon-pink, one-stop shop for commentary and reflections that range from the silly to the serious, framing reality TV as an extreme medium through which we can better understand ourselves. As Everett Epstein writes in his editorial: ‘These shows, in their specificity, create space for an American allegory.’
Sarah Chefka presses play on this season with an exploration of the ways women eat on screen, referencing a plethora of programmes—from ‘Hot Ones’ to ‘The Real Housewives’ franchise—with sources ranging from ‘The Kardashians‘ to the Bible. Elsewhere, Healy Crews positions the survival challenge series ‘Alone‘ as a lens through which to contemplate contemporary social isolation, while Rebecca Willner divulges her enemies-to-lovers story arc with ‘Love Island‘ in an ode to the female cast members of ‘Love Island USA’ Season 6.