I've had this argument with many people now and although I never seem to win, I can't help but blab my opinions all over the Internet. With this being said, I hate reality television. Hate; being the strongest word to describe my passionate stance on the subject.
I'm only twenty-three, but in a time of rapidly changing technology, commercialism, marketing and television transitions, I feel pretty old. I and I'm sure anyone else my age or older remember the old Nickelodeon, the old Disney Channel, the old MTV for crying out loud. We recall the entertainment, the music, the music videos of all different genres that splashed across our television screens. There were sitcoms and cartoons oh and don't forget when TLC actually used to stand for "The (legitimate) Learning Channel" and when the Discovery Channel provided more than just the typical adventure "Man vs. Nature," shows.
The first reality shows I ever remember watching were "The Real World" and "Survivor." I remember watching Cora and Mike from "Real World New York" argue about race and gender in their shared kitchen. I remember sitting beside my father every Thursday night watching "Survivor" and debating over who would be kicked off that evening. I'm sure I watched more than that here and there, like the celebrity diaries show MTV provided with the famous quote, "You think you know me, but you have no idea." They were scattered throughout television and in their debut, we were all captivated. "These were real people, living their lives. I could connect with them without even knowing them," I thought, "Or, these people are REALLY doing these crazy things, and it's REALLY REAL."
Well, weren't we all deceived?
I remember the day "TRL" ("Total Request Live") aired its last episode on MTV. It was after school, I sat in my living room and something of an epiphany overwhelmed me, "This is the last music related show on MTV." It was nonsense and a stupid decision. Kids watched, teens watched. It exposed us to new music, to good music, to the music videos we all hungrily craved. And just like that a big corporation comes through and cancels it, in order to do what, create a station with more trash reality shows than any other (maybe TLC beats this)??
Don't get me wrong, I watched a few seasons of "16& Pregnant" and "Teen Moms." At first, it was interesting and in a way informative. But then, season after season, it became less about the pregnancy and more about the drama between the baby momma and the baby daddy. Is that really all you can provide us, drama drama drama? That, ladies and gents, is one big reason why I have grown to HATE reality shows: the exacerbated hostility. They have watchers choosing sides and have people entertained with mind numbing bull crap (literally). For instance, the "Real Wives of Orange County," or of "New York," or of "Atlanta" or of "New Jersey." It's all fighting between catty women that aren't house wives, but rich snobs that are greedily grabbing a few more dollars and some television fame. Disgusting.
And what about "Honey Boo Boo," "Bridezillas," "Say Yes to the Dress," "Jersey Shore," "The Bachelor/ Bachelorette," etc. etc. etc. First of all, they all portray values that in the ACTUAL real world, most of us would pretty much find rude, offensive and down right nasty. But yet again, people watch because the drama is just sooo entertaining, but I'm pretty sure watching dumb doesn't do well for the watcher's brain cells.
Secondly, my biggest beef with Reality T.V. is that....duhn duhn duhn...It isn't REAL. Most of the time it is what could be called, "scripted reality." Sure real people with "similar" situations are taken, but their placed in a fictional setting which producers and directors over see. The moment I found out that "Survivor" had reenacted one of its scenes because the camera men missed the shot, I stopped watching the show. Also, last year when it was leaked and the hurriedly spread that "House Hunters" was not real and in most cases fictional, I stopped watching that as well. It may seem petty, but I am a stickler for truth. The one aspect lacking in Reality T.V. is truth. These shows are produced and directed in order to get an audience and nine out of ten times, reality just isn't as exciting as they need it to be. I mean really, crab fishing and Alaskan truckers?? Only pure imagination could create more than a handful of entertaining episodes from those topics....And so, it blatantly enrages me that these shows claim to be "reality," when indeed they are nothing more than handful of people who aren't necessarily "actors" playing themselves in different (mostly scripted) situations for us to watch. It's not real and it's not quality and it most definitely is not truth.
I guess I'll finish with this: My mother and I have had this discussion a few times and each time she throws her hands up in the air and says, "I like it because I don't have to think while watching it." And every time I shake my head and sigh. Because that's really it. We don't need to think about our lives or our worries or our "to do" lists when watching other people play out their dramatic, albeit fictional (or vaguely fictional, however you like to see it), life predicaments. That's the problem: there are too many of us not thinking, too many of us choosing not to think, too many of us hidden behind "Gypsy Weddings," "The Apprentice," "Sister Wives," "Toddlers and Tiaras," and "The Kardashians," to care one bit.
This may read disjointed, so I apologize. Rant over.
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