The Hills, the insanely popular MTV docu-drama which follows the pastel-hued lives of Lauren, Heidi, Whitney and Audrina, is a show that for the past few seasons has remained a safe, arm's-length distance away from our reality. That is until this season, when Whitney and Lauren landed jobs working for longtime PAPER friend Kelly Cutrone, who helms fashion PR house People's Revolution. As Whitney and Lauren's no nonsense, clad in all black, oft-frazzled boss, Kelly is a refreshing antidote to their former, much more reserved Teen Vogue boss-lady Lisa Love. Kelly, along with her partners Emily Bungert and Robyn Berkley, were nice enough to chat with us about what it's like living and witnessing the reality TV life.
Alexis Swerdloff: How have things changed since you guys started the show?
Emily Bungert: My life hasn't changed much except that I have gotten tons of emails from people, fans of the show, people I never would have expected to watch it. People in PR, from magazines, in the industry -- not teenagers.
Robyn Berkley: I was at a very pop culture, magazine party two weeks ago and I was hardly on the last episodes and people were like, "Oh my god I saw you on The Hills, you were really great!"
Kelly Cutrone: I have gotten a lot of emails -- the first person I ever had sex with emailed me and one of my oldest drinking buddies. It's been like Facebook times a million. I was at the grocery store yesterday and these girls were like "People's Revolution is here!" We've been getting crank calls, "Hi it's so and so from Teen Vogue…" Sometimes I get on the phone just for fun and say, "Hi, I know you're full of shit" and they scream, "ahh!" and hang up.
AS: Why do you think The Hills is so hugely, hugely popular?
KC: I think it's popular with people either because a) they dream of having a life like that or b) they have a life like that. People are either watching their day being reflected or it's young people and their moms who get to watch four really beautiful young women. In a world filled with a ton of violence, watching a show where the biggest drama is a curling iron burning an Albert Ferretti dress, it's kind of like Valium. Also, we work in PR and are communicators and this is an interesting form of communication. And it's not like we're the center of it, we're a backdrop for all these young, beautiful girls.
EB: It's strangely addicting, I don't understand why. You just get sucked in...
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