Reality Television

Reality Television

 

     I don’t watch reality shows because I just don’t care to. But, my wife does sometimes. There’s been many occasion when she’ll be watching one of those shows and call me to come quickly and see what this person or that person is doing, done, said or is about to do. It’s all so crazy. Reality television is one of those phenomena we just can’t explain. We watch them, but yet we don’t really know why. I guess it’s like watching a car wreck, it’s gory but yet you can’t turn away. We make fun of these shows and comment on how ridiculous some of the characters are, yet we keep watching them. One particular show that comes to mind is “Jersey Shore”. The guys are muscle heads who are so full of themselves. They walk around shirtless or with the tightest sleeveless t-shirt they can find. They are filmed at bars drinking and acting like fools. And of course what would the show be without sex? So, they pick up girls that will have sex with them on demand. The female cast act pretty much in the same way. They drink till they can’t drink anymore and pass out to the point where they have to be carried home. Is that really any way to behave? They definitely don’t present themselves in a positive way. I think they have a negative influence on our youth. The youth see the cast members getting so much attention from the media and bragging about the large amounts of money they’re making that it seems so alluring. Who wouldn’t want to be on TV and make a lot of money?  

     It’s not only young people on these reality shows or young people watching these shows. You have the older demographics watching shows depicting bored rich housewives (“Housewives of …), sisters who are married to the same man (“Sister Wife’s), dwarfs and other little people going about their daily lives (“Little People”), beautiful people who are famous for doing nothing (“Keeping up with the Kardasian’s”), and rich Persian’s who party hard and live extravagent lifestyles (“Shahs of Sunset”). There’s something for every one of all ages to watch. It seems like the networks don’t really care what’s being aired anymore so long as it’s making them money. One particular network that comes to mind is the TLC Channel; they have a lot of reality shows. I remember back in the day TLC (The Learning Channel) had shows that were educational and informative. It seems now they show a lot of reality shows and less educational programs. Maybe they should change their name from TLC to something more suitable.

     Well, I guess if the ratings continue to be high on these shows, the networks will keep showing them for those who choose to watch them. For sure I won’t be one of those people; I have my own reality to deal with. The only positive thing I can say about these shows is they are entertaining to some people for sure, but REAL, not always. Some of the people who have been on past reality shows no longer on the air have admitted some of their stories or incidents have been scripted. So is reality even really reality?