William Ruiz

Blog #3

Reality Television

I never got into the whole reality television craze. I sat through a few episodes of each reality show that my daughter cornered me into one weekend a few years ago.  My daughter doesn’t let up when she wants me to do something she knows I dislike. It is as if she is five again and just learned to bat her eyes. My daughter loves reality television shows and talks about the people in the shows she watches like she actually knows them. I tried to get her to see my point of view on the matter but it didn’t work. I told her that if the commercials were crap the show will not be any better.

                We watched a show called Bride-lizza; I could not believe what I was watching. I felt so sorry for the families that were a part of the wedding. The show was mainly about grown women using foul language, yelling at people, throwing temper tantrums, often to the point of being hysterical. They looked beautiful but their behavior was not beautiful, certainly not ladylike, and not even civil. Some of the women took “It’s my day and it has to be perfect” to a whole new level. After watching this show, I became concerned about the example it was portraying to my teenage daughter.

                In my opinion the shows are definitely scripted.  I believe the characters on the shows are selected based on the script, just as they would be if they were playing characters in a drama. They are hand-picked for each particular part in the script based on their looks or personality traits and willingness to make asses of themselves. They are then coached or directed to develop their character to perform some extreme behavior demanded by the “reality” script. The participants are not professional actors. Some go on the shows for the prize money, opportunity to travel, or desire to be on television and get notoriety. However, the stars and repeat contestants who have developed a following, such as Kim Kardashian, Lauren Conrad, Bethanny Frankel, and Mike the Situation Sorrentino, are making millions. Since most of the participants are not usually paid as actors would be, the programs are relatively cheap to produce.

 I think this kind of television is foolish, designed to entertain a young, unsophisticated audience.  As you can see, I have a low opinion of these shows. I think that instead of being reality they are the same kind of hoax as the World  Wrestling Federation  TV shows of the late 1980’s and 90’s. Like wrestling did in that era, today’s reality shows provide television stations with low cost programing designed to appeal to the masses.