Reality TV, Why?

Reality shows, can't live without them? Sure you can! The television industry has a new strategy in town, its called reality programing. Weather or not you like to admit it or not, most of us fall victim to watching numerous hours on end watching people fail or succeed in this world of reality television. Most reality shows are great the first time around, but any seasons that follow are just redundant and pointless. Who cares if we have a 10th American Idol or a 100th Top Model? The truth of the matter is our society has gobbled up this some-what new form of television and I feel it will greatly impact our society.

I personally believe reality show's bring out the worst in all people. We are human after all, or maybe Darwin say's Its survival of the fit but people turn into monsters on these shows just to win. One of the true original shows that exemplifies "survival of the fit" would be the reality show "Survivor".  People just like you and I are stranded on an island and there are numerous challenges and also a lot of backstabbing that helps one win the game (1 million dollars to be exact). When I watched the show a few seasons ago, I observed people were rude to one another. I honestly feel that this will impact our society greatly because what if a child was watching? Television these day's can be a form of influence and this could potentially teach our kids that its okay to be rude to other people and backstab one another.

What about the Reality shows that feature dating? Numerous shows such as "Flavor of Love" or "I Love New York" have caught many viewer attention due to the violent nature of those shows. I say violent as some people get into actual fist fights over someone whom they think they love. You watch many people compete for another persons affection yet what you don't know, you are watching pure garbage. I feel not only do the reality shows bring out the worst in people but it brings out the foolish side of people. I hear girls on these show who tell this D-List celebrity that they love him yet they have only known him for 5 minutes. Some even offer up sex just to be with flavor flav which I feel is a bad example for any children who are watching. These shows can promote sex, that its okay to cheat in a relationship, or that its okay to be with multiple partners. Maybe I am wrong? Maybe these people who do these show's are wanting the 15 minutes of fame or so Andy Warhol puts it.

What can we do to stop this madness called Reality Television? We can do our part by writing letters but what do the big corporations care? They make big bucks off of these reality shows. Do you honestly believe that paying the winner of a show 500,000 dollars to a Million dollars hurts their pocket book? Not at all. Most of the money these companies make are from the advertising. The only people probably getting paid on the reality show are the camera crew and the corporation. Depending on the show too, sometimes the celebrity makes a profit. We can't stop the companies from showing reality shows as it is dirt cheap for them to show, yet it reels in many people just to watch. Be it the drama, the backstabbing, the competition, there will always be someone who will watch it. My best suggestion is to turn of the television and find something better to do with your time!