Trendy Notes: Nene Leakes Doesn’t Need a Reality Check

BRAVO has a major star on its hands and it’s not Andy Cohen, it happens to be their own homegrown wallflower and Atlanta’s finest Nene Leakes.

The RHOA’s cast member is shedding her “Reality TV” persona and embarking on a more respectable and studious path that has led to her to the playgrounds of Glee and now to a new home with the cast of NBC’s The New Normal which made its debut this past Tuesday night.

I guess it can’t be that shocking to anyone who religiously caught every episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta that Nene would emerge as the glowing gem among the rubble. Through all her engaging antics and emotional collisions with her surrounding posse including her now estranged hubby, Leakes always seemed confident in the knowledge that simply being herself was all she needed to stand out and garner the right kind of attention. It looks like self-preservation and perseverance do pay off because the reality star is taking flight in an unexpected and glorious way.  She is practically the muse of Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy, one of the most prolific visionaries in the world of television who is responsible for hits like the previously mentioned Glee, Leakes’ former stomping ground, and the current obsession, American Horror Story. His newest offspring, The New Normal is getting a lot of buzz and is shaping up to be another home run for Murphy, who never seems to run out of  innovative ways to tackle controversial subjects. Leakes’ is holding her own with some major talent with a cast that includes Ellen Barkin and Justin Bartha. This might be her most ambitious project yet, but maybe not, considering her tendency to upstage without discrimination. She plays a drag queen named Rocky and considering the context, its going to be quite a treat watching the character unfold.

Reality TV has undoubtedly re-shaped and re-defined our viewing habits and for the most part it has been somewhat damaging especially when you consider the cavalier methods being used to glorify the very traits that we were taught to abhor. But as with everything in life, there is a positive and a negative and I think we can all agree that Nene Leakes is one of the positives in this equation.