Reality? pshh, yeah right.

Reality TV. Where to start... I personally thought that I hated this genre altogether but then I started to think about the shows I watch and a lot of them actually fall into this category. My best example of this anomaly is a gem of a program called, "Man vs. Wild". I can never seem to get enough of starring adventurer Bear Grylls and his bug-eating, rock-climbing endeavors. Like many reality shows, this one seems at first glance to be a representation of real-life events that have not been altered or staged. And like many reality shows, this is just simply not the case.

Though I will credit Man vs. Wild with telling the audience that many of it's events are not pure reality, it is still a show that makes people act differently. After watching this program I start to believe I could survive out in the wild on my own with a knife and a bit of flint. What they do not show you is the cast of people behind the camera or on-hand in case of emergencies. Let's not forget that I love this show and even knowing this, I continue to watch it. This is the case with many MANY reality shows. We see things acted out on TV that we perceive as reality and these things make us think that it is okay for us to do them. Networks like MTV and VH1 are in my opinion, destroying television and the lives of people all at once. The show "Teen Mom" is a perfect example of this. The lives of teenage mothers are glorified and turned into a gruesome soap-opera like fantasy.

We watch as these young parents struggle with the choices they have made and we cannot get enough. What is wrong with the people who glue themselves to the screen when these horrid programs air? All I can ultimately do is shake my head because as I stated, I am guilty of watching reality shows, though maybe not ones as bad as Teen Mom. The fact that this show basically encourages teen pregnancy is just flat-out sickening. The way I see it, young girls are watching it and thinking to themselves, "Maybe if I get pregnant I can be on TV, maybe I can be a star." It makes them think that there is nothing wrong with trying to raise a child when you are still a child yourself. I wish I could say that its showing it's young audience what not to do. A sort of lesson to make sure that it's viewers don't make the same mistakes. But unfortunately I just don't see it that way.

The worst of the worst in this entire genre of television has to be "Jersey Shore". I cannot bear the torture that is this show. These lazy drunken fools are just as bad as Teen Mom. Teaching people that you can create a worthwhile lifestyle out of alcoholism and "clubbing" is morbidly saddening.

In the end, I can only hope that this style of TV is a trending fad that will die out almost as suddenly as in came into it's pathetic existence. But I am almost certain that this is a delusional thought straight from fantasy island. All that being said there are and will remain to be, a few diamonds in the rough if you will, that make it all worth it with shows such as Man vs. Wild and dare I say...Fear Factor, leading the charge.

 

References

-http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/teens-becoming-pregnant-t_n_793063.html

 

-http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2011/06/17/watching-jersey-shore-could-make-you-stupid-really/