I hate reality television. The whole point of the invention of television was to create a platform where people could turn on and tune out from the world as a whole. Short of news and sports, why would one retreat to the couch for reality? Isn’t that retreat what books and movies were created for? Isn’t that retreat what video games and card games are good for? They are all things to do that take our minds off of the current situations we find ourselves in. What could possibly drive someone to live life, work eight hours, and then come home to watch someone else’s life?
Modern Day Voyeurism
Reality television hath become the modern day equivalent to voyeurism. I’m sorry but I’m right. There is no argument valid against that simple proclamation. A lot of the stuff I write always has another side of the argument that is just as good and valid, as I intend it to, but this is an untenable declaration. Just as life is being alive and death is being dead, reality television is voyeurism.
Take a breath, pause, exhale, and think of the first show that comes to mind. I guarantee that watching the show makes you a peeping tom. If I took a video of you living your everyday life, defecating, showering, making love, eating, complaining, sleeping, driving, working, arguing, getting drunk, doing drugs, doing your laundry, brushing your teeth – than edited it and put it on you tube – that’s a reality television show … and I was being a voyeur.
Of course, technically you didn’t know about the camera I had trained on you or consented to my filming, so you acted candid, normal, and unabashed. That’s the type of “reality television” you find on 4chan.org or whatever other nefarious websites that are out there – and that’s illegal voyeurism.
The shows that I’m talking about, the ones that are considered “reality” by legal standards are nothing short of amateurs acting in front of a camera with no set script, dialogue, or resolution of conflict – akin to the form of comedy known as ad-libbing. The people on “Hoarders” may act a little differently when the A&E camera crews are around, but you, the viewer, nonetheless, are in fact made privy to a part of someone’s life that should be private and anonymous.
You are being a voyeur.
It’s the same reason why so many men found the Paris Hilton sex tapes so exciting and “hot” – we were viewing a million-dollar-did-nothing-to-get-famous woman having sex with some idiot - and it was “accidentally” leaked, for our viewing pleasure. No one I know thinks she’s good looking – at least porn star good looking – and yet those clips we could find on the internet became viral and the subsequent DVD’s sold like hotcakes.
Fifteen Minutes of Fame
But I guess any exposure is good exposure, or so they say. Most of us want our fifteen minutes of fame, and if that means going on Big Brother and talking smack about everyone you live with or trying to sing your heart out on American Idol, so be it. I guess I can’t get mad at people who sign the contract and willingly put themselves on the altar of prime time television to be judged by the masses. It saddens and embarrasses me just the same though – that millions of people have no lives and must live vicariously through others.
Viewing Statistics of Reality Television
How many Americans, do you think, could describe the Battle of Saratoga (during the American Revolution) with decent understanding? How many do you think could describe why the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was such a landmark event? Now take another pause. How many do you think could tell you “Snookie’s” favorite music, romantic inclinations, or clothing style? How many could tell you what type of life “The Situation” has, or how good of a dancer he is?
In the words of an unknown author on truthit.net - “According to statistics surrounding reality TV,70% of viewers in the UK aged 6 to 65 either occasionally or regularly watch these shows on a regular basis. In 2004, more people voted for the winner of American Idol than voted for president. Last week, Idol and Dancing with the Stars took the top 3 spots, and 4 out of the top ten.”
What’s even scarier is the reference the author makes to “Fahrenheit 451”, the movie based on the awesome Ray Bradbury book from the fifties, which – plot summarized – is about an America in the near future where firemen actually start fires, burn books, and the populace is kept in a constant state of high alert by the government, who is conducting a global war only shown through the lens they choose.
“There is a scene in the 1966 film Fahrenheit 451 starring Oskar Werner in which he comes home to his wife who is interacting with a soap opera on television. This country has come far enough for the scene to no longer fit in the realm of Science Fiction.”
The End Complete
In the end, those reality television “stars” make the bed they sleep in and we watch them do it.
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