Even though reality TV is extremely popular in American culture I don't think it's a good thing. For many people, it doesn't effect their views, but for some I believe it can be used as an excuse for bad behavior.
Reality TV can relate to you, but it isn't relating to your every day life. Some of the drama can be realistic, some of the issues and topics brought up are realistic but in reality TV everything is overblown and out of proportion. Every fight turns into a physical brawl, every issue ends with girls screaming at each other or guys getting black eyes. Most of the time, people on reality TV don't talk things out. Instead they beat the crap out of each other and then go drink some more.
It seems that shows like the Real World and Jersey Shore focus on the bad aspects of our popular culture. It focuses on drinking, fighting, petty drama and people having sex. Sure that relates to people, but not most people. I believe some people use shows and examples like this to justify their bad behavior when really it shouldn't be justified at all.
At the same time I think that's why those shows are so popular. The majority of people don't act like that, and though it's an embarrassment to our culture it's interesting to watch people push the limit and act overly ridiculous. I know personally when I've been really mad I would have loved to leap across a room screaming and pull the person I'm fighting withs hair out. But I'm a more rational person and I would never do something like that.
By watching reality TV you're about to see things you wish you could do or would never imagine doing. You can live it through other people on TV so you don't have to look like an idiot yourself.
I believe the largest archetypes in reality TV are macho muscular looking guys and skinny attractive promiscuous girls. Basically every character on Jersey Shore if you took the guido out of them. In every reality show there is always one or more of these people. They act the same way and look about the same way but always have different personalities or personalities that are way too strong and similar. They always fight and clash so there ends up being "attractive" people drinking around and wrestling each other.
I think that if reality television shows really relate to people, they relate to the worst parts of ourselves. People have many different qualities, and to narrow them down to only a few really makes people seem much more shallow than they are.
ReplyDelete