In recent years, it is apparent enough that reality stars have been taking over television and the media.
“I think it [reality television] is bogus,” said freshman psychology major Christina Miller. “They [reality show stars] don’t do anything and they get famous for it,” Miller continued. “Meanwhile people who make a difference never get recognition.”
Reality shows, as we know them today, first began when the program The Real World began on MTV in 1992. However, the true beginning of reality TV was with a show called An American Family, a program that followed the lives of two ordinary Americans, Bill and Pat Loud, and their family. This show depicted the real lives of a real family (at least allegedly), whereas shows such as The Real World simply took people that had never met each other before and threw them in a house. Wildly popular, The Real World lead to the creation of many other shows, including Laguna Beach and The Jersey Shore. Reality game shows became popular; Survivor, The Bachelor, and Big Brother, are just a few examples of shows that took allegedly ordinary people and threw them together to compete in various television competitions to find love, fame, and money. When these reality shows filled with ordinary people all started out, the common factor was just that; the people weren’t famous. The people were pulled from the streets and had to audition. They were unknowns. But as these shows and the people in them gained popularity, this ceased to be the case (at least for the most part), and the level of actuality in reality television dropped and continues to drop today.
Take a look at so-called “reality” television and “reality” game shows today. Game shows such as Dancing With the Stars and Survivor have been having seasons based on celebrities and former contestants who attained a B-list celebrity status by being on reality shows in years prior. The Jersey Shore cast, a prime example, attained a high level of fame from being on that show. Thus, spinoff reality shows were created, i.e., Snooki and Jwoww (among others.) These newer spinoffs are still considered reality, despite revolving around the lives of people who have already attained fame. The genre of reality television clearly no longer depicts lives of ordinary people. To make matters worse (and less real), there are many allegations that these shows are scripted.
Even the Wikipedia.com definition of a reality show “is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations.”
The key word here is purportedly, which means allegedly. This definition attests to the fact that many people believe reality shows are scripted, and scripted shows cannot be deemed ‘real.’ Therefore, reality shows should probably just be called shows. It is simply “bogus,” as Miller stated.
Reality television is clearly becoming based more so on celebrities than reality. Reality game shows such as Survivor have been featuring ‘All-star’ casts, in which a cast of former contestants or celebrities is used as opposed to a cast full of ordinary people hoping to win money or achieve fame. Dancing with the Stars, albeit a show that always featured different celebrities and never just ordinary people, is planning to have Lisa Vanderpump of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills compete. Real Housewives, of course, is a show that takes women (some already somewhat famous, some not) living in wealth and luxury, and showcases their alleged real lives. Women from this popular Bravo show have attained some fame.
It is understandable that many A-list stars may be too busy to appear on reality shows and reality contest shows. However, the fact that people that attained their stardom from appearing on various reality shows are being depicted on other shows continues to prove the point that reality is taking over the media, and maybe even society.
“I think this cycle should stop,” stated Miller, regarding this issue. “You are giving people fame for absolutely nothing, and this is not a good message for kids,” Miller continued. “What kid actually wants to be a scientist these days? They just want to be famous. Some kids may even want to grow up to be Snooki.”
Others argue that reality television, while ridiculous and probably not real, is still enjoyable.
“I sometimes enjoy watching reality television,” said freshman nursing major Anabel Perez Valdez. “It is up to parents to control what children watch on TV; reality shows are not meant to be watched by children, so the cycle is harmless as long as parents control what the younger generation tunes into,” Perez Valdez continued. “That being said, I still agree that the amount of reality shows on television is quite ridiculous.”
Many people enjoy watching reality TV, and Anabel makes a good point; parents can control what children watch. Is it really so bad to have an exorbitant amount of fake reality on television for adults to watch as the occasional guilty pleasure? Perhaps not. Even so, many still believe there is too much attention on reality stars. VH1’s slogan is “Not reality, actuality.” But many people would agree more with Miller. Not reality, “bogus.”