From the latest "Bachelor" break-up to cat fights among "real" housewives, our conversations around the water cooler center around reality TV and the train-wrecks that ensue. Do we all secretly want to be famous? (I would for at least One Show). Reality TV fits perfectly into our socially networked, internet-obsessed culture. For a lot of people, it isn’t enough to watch made up stories being acted; we want to feel like we know everyone, that the people we idolize or at least read about in celebrity magazines are just like us. Reality TV provides the façade that it could be us up there. We take their battles so seriously and so personally, it’s like they’re happening to us.
Our world today is all about the quickest ways to fame... studies show that kids growing up now would rather be famous than contribute anything to the world ...and it is the most efficient way to get there. You don’t have to have special skills or even work particularly hard. But What exactly about reality TV that turns American/Canadians into a society of curious voyeurs and drama queens? With a combination of deception, sexual encounters, drunken ramblings and sudden outbursts it's no wonder that reality TV keeps viewers glued to their televisions week after week.
Instead of people just living their own lives, viewers can now be there first-hand to witness the dissolution of relationships, watch complete strangers getting stranded on an exotic island, follow amateur singers as they vie to be the next idol and look at the torment of what an "ugly duckling" will have to go through so he or she can achieve some standard of beauty as determined by a show's producer.
It's often said that reality television isn't actually "real" and that the producers are constantly coercing cast members to get involved in certain situations. Who really cares if the cast is being manipulated to become overly emotional? It's moments like those that make for great television.
With reality TV there's a little something for everyone. For us hopeless romantics there is “The Bachelor” Who doesn't like to laugh at those clingy women that sob their way out of the rose ceremony after being rejected by a man they've only spent about a total of 20 minutes with. Viewers realize that the relationships that are built on these shows will probably only last a few months, but that is why it's so intriguing. It's amazing how quickly people fall in and out of love.
There is a show for everyone.... In My case.... I watch them all .. Bachelor..American Idol, Survivor.. Big Brother.. Laguna Beach, The Hills.... and thats not even the tip of the iceberg. People sometimes ask, "When will reality TV end?" I hate to break this to you, but most likely never. And Personally.... I have no problem with that!
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