The trend of reality television is a trend that has gotten really old, really fast. Is our own real life so boring we have spy into other people’s lives to give our own meaning?
The granddaddy of reality TV is the “Real World.” This is supposed to be a reflection of real life, but I don’t know anybody in the “real world” in the 18-24 age range who could afford to rent some of the posh digs the cast is set up with. Never-the-less, the cast over the course of a season accomplishes little more than having arguments over race and religion. I by no means discourage this, but it’s gotten to the point where in America today, watching the “Real World” counts as diversity.
Studies have shown that the more television you watch, the more friends you are likely to think you have. That’s a sad fact. Nobody on the “Real World” has ever met you, nor are they your friend. They are merely flickering light transmitted from across the country to warm your television.
I had plans once to sabotage “The Real World.” When the MTV campus invasion tour came to the University they had try-outs for the “Real World” I was going to try out, if I made the show I was going to go the first few episodes normally, then refuse to wear pants until the end of the season. Just to mess with them. But before MTV had a chance to call me and invite me on the show, along came Richard Hatch, stealing my idea.
“Survivor” at least has a vague point. Let’s make people miserable and see if it brings out the worst or the best in them. I did like the reality of seeing people dirty, smelly and gross, but then that became the shows gimmick. Look how gross we are, look how much backstabbing we can do. “Yippee! I ate a rat, lied to people and won a million dollars! Huzzah for me!”
“American Idol” encourages laughs and ratings at the cost of crushing the dreams of hundreds of hopefuls. Now I’ll admit some of these people will never be a pop star, crushed dreams or not, but there’s a simple joy to singing in your bedroom, dreaming of making it big, even if you never pursue that dream. “American Idol” has crushed that fantasy for all but a handful that tried out.
Perhaps even worse it’s created Spam e-mails like “It’s like ‘American Idol’ of porn!” Which I suppose makes more sense than “It’s like the ‘Big Brother’ of porn” because the stripper would be voted out first.
“Big Brother” mildly appealed to me, even though it is just “The Real World” with the lock on the outside of the door. To be honest I’d let the clicker rest on the show between commercials, until Sept. 11. The real-time show test kept right on going despite the tragedy, people remained locked in the house. The rules changed a little bit, seeing no other course of action, the producers informed the houseguests of the events. But how realistic is it to continue to play this game when a family member of one of the players is lost in the rubble? I couldn’t stomach the show after that. But I read that the player with the missing family member was next voted out, just out of sympathy, so she could be with her family. Actually, I did watch about five minutes of the next season, which was the peanut butter bikini thing, but it was just luck. I turned to the TV to that channel at the time. But again, no redeeming social value, no insights on life, no escape from reality the rest of television offers, no entertainment value beyond the T’A.
My hope is, someday, somewhere the following letter will show up:
Dear Producers of “Big Brother,” “Survivor,” “American Idol,” “The Real World,” etc.
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole season on this show for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you’re crazy for making us write an essay telling you who we think we are.
You (and the viewers) see us, as you want to see us, in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, a racist. Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours,
The Reality Club
