REALITY (TV) SUCKS!

From the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary –

ex-cre-ment noun \ ek-skrə-mənt\

Definition of EXCREMENT

(1) waste matter discharged from the body; especially: feces

(2) reality tv

— ex•cre•men•tal\ˌek-skrə-ˈmen-təl\ adjective

— ex•cre•men•ti•tious\-ˌmen-ˈti-shəs, -mən-\ adjective

Examples of EXCREMENT

(1) an ordinance that requires dog walkers to remove their animal's excrement from city streets

(2) MTV’s "The Jersey Shore" is a steaming pile of excrement

Reality sucks!  Reality tv, that is.

I wish someone would explain to me why the great unwashed masses are so fascinated by watching people with limited intelligence and no self-respect behave badly on a deserted island, in courtrooms, on the runway or at a photo shoot, in a boardroom sucking up to an over-exposed and self-absorbed millionaire, losing weight, in restaurant kitchens, in tattoo parlors and beauty salons, or supposedly looking for a mate.

Once upon a time television, while not always succeeding, at least attempted to entertain, enlighten and educate. 

Watching self-absorbed trophy wives - neither “real” nor “housewives” - bitch and moan, drink like fishes, and engage in catfights certainly does not deserve a “bravo”.

Watching a family of ignorant and bigoted hillbillies hunt ducks is neither art nor entertainment.

Watching the brain-dead living together in close quarters is not entertaining, enlightening or educational.

Watching a bevvy or women throw themselves at a potential mate, who is only in it for the sex, is nothing more than bad soft-core pornography.

Watching children being abused and paraded around in inappropriately mature costumes in dance class or “beauty pageants” is porn for pedophiles. 

The above all represent examples of the genre incorrectly referred to as “reality tv” (the only true reality tv is the evening news).  I remember coming across the last scene in the tv movie about arrogant moron Trump while channel surfing several years back.  Mark Burnett is pitching the idea for THE APPRENTICE to Trump.  “It’s not reality,” Burnett tells him.  “It’s reality tv”.

There is more expression of true human emotion and “reality” in the main characters of BONES remembering a fallen comrade or android Data trying to learn to be “human” in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION than in an entire season of any reality tv garbage.

While the motto of the father of reality programs is “Outwit, Outplay and Outlast”, the real motto of the reality tv genre is “Embarrass, Humiliate and Abuse”.

Just to be clear, when I refer to “reality tv” I am not talking about legitimate talent contests or home improvement shows likes those on HGTV or DIY.  You know what shows I am talking about.

What does reality tv do?  It takes greedy self-absorbed individuals, totally devoid of self-respect and common sense and with questionable intelligence, puts them in unnatural situations, encourages them to act outrageously, and films everything they do.  This has nothing to do with “reality”.

In my younger days the criteria for determining if a book or movie was pornography was the lack of any “socially redeeming value”. I dare anyone to show me any socially redeeming value in any reality tv program.

Back in 2008 USA TODAY did a cover story on reality tv with interviews panels of “stars” from various shows of the genre.  When a panel from cable channel VH1 was asked about the most memorable moments from their shows, Flavor Flav said, “One of the most memorable moments in the history of reality TV was when that girl shit on my floor.”  Someone else responded, “No, I’d say it’s Mini-Me pissing on the carpet” from THE SURREAL LIFE.  Need I say more?

One of the programs in this heinous genre was a show called THE BIGGEST LOSER. Just who is the biggest loser when it comes to “reality tv”?

It goes without saying that those who participate as hosts and contestants on a reality program, and those who actually watch the garbage, are indeed losers, in every sense of the word. Also on the list of losers are the multitude of actors, writers, directors, and other creative personnel who are unemployed as a result of the proliferation of these programs.

No actual creativity is needed for reality tv.  The director just tells the participants to act outrageously and the cameraperson points and shoots.

But the biggest losers are those of us who recognize the genre for the crap that it truly is, and therefore avoid it like the plague. For every hour of “reality” programming that pollutes the airwaves we are deprived of an hour of real television drama, comedy, documentary or news programming. By putting shows like THE BACHELOR and THE BACHELORETTE on its prime-time schedule, ABC has denied us what may have been the next ALL IN THE FAMILY, M*A*S*H, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, DESIGNATED SURVIVOR, THIS IS US, or 60 MINUTES.  The only winners in “realty tv” are the networks and the shows’ producers, who are laughing all the way to the bank!

Reality tv is a result of, and a major contributor to the ongoing continuance of, the “dumbing down of America”.  A result of this vile genre is the creation of a new breed of “celebrities” – self-important narcissistic buffoons with no talent who are merely “famous for being famous”.

One of the best descriptions ever of so-called “reality tv” and the making of its pathetic “stars” into “celebrities” appeared in an episode of the BBC tv show JUDGE JOHN DEED, starring Martin Shaw as the judge, a decade ago.  In “Popular Appeal” an angry contestant in a British reality tv show called “The Dungeon” kills another competitor on camera, and the show's producers face charges of manslaughter in Deed's court. The prosecution contends that they acted recklessly and engineered conflict in order to get higher ratings.  A psychiatrist working for the station that airs the show testifies that the producers purposely look for psychologically flawed “contestants” who can be easily manipulated and angered, which clearly represents what reality tv producers do in “real life”.  

Judge Deed, speaking to the producer of a reality TV show after the jury has returned its verdict, correctly observes –

“Celebrity: the pursuit of the talentless by the mindless. It's a common disease of the twenty-first century. It pollutes our society, and diminishes all who seek it and all who worship it, and you must bear part of the responsibility for foisting this empty nonsense onto a gullible public.”

Reality tv is dangerous.  It teaches bad lessons to young viewers –

* Greed is good.

* Money is more important than self-respect or human dignity.

* It is acceptable to publicly humiliate people.

* A cat fight is an appropriate form of conflict resolution. 

* You don’t need education or even intelligence to be a success in America – any brain-dead idiot can become wealthy by appearing in reality tv nonsense.

In her excellent and spot on blog post “The Danger of Reality TV” Canadian Rhonda Scharf correctly observes -

“The reality of reality shows is that they effectively affect our society. Television tells us what is normal and accepted and eventually it worms its way into our subconscious.

These messages are wrong. They instill a workplace mentality of winning at all costs. They have no compassion, no understanding, and no reality about the world we actually live in.”

A news item from 2012 reported –

“The Girls Scouts are warning of the dangers of reality tv after a study by the Girl Scouts Research Institute concluded that reality shows are having a negative effect on young women.

The study found that reality television ‘more frequently portrays girls and women in competition with one another rather than in support or collaboration. This perpetuates a 'mean-girl' stereotype and normalizes this behavior among girls.’

The study concluded: ‘Teen girls who regularly view reality tv accept and expect a higher level of drama, aggression, and bullying in their own lives, and measure their worth primarily by their physical appearance.’"

Television can change the world.  Pioneers like Norman Lear and the creative staff behind M*A*S*H changed the world for the better in the early 1970s.  And same-sex marriage would not have become legally accepted without Ellen DeGeneres and shows like WILL AND GRACE and MODERN FAMILY.  Today reality tv garbage is resulting in the decline and deterioration of our society.

Still don’t think reality tv is dangerous?   

Reality tv is responsible for the death of the Republican Party and the dire mess that America and the world is in today by giving undeserved credibility to a mentally unstable narcissistic sociopath and cartoon clown who is completely unfit to serve in any elected position of power – the current President of the United States.

From the Thesaurus –

Synonyms for “shit”:

BM, crap, defecation, doo-doo, dung, excrement, excretion, fecal matter, feces, manure, number two, poop, reality tv, stool, waste.

TTYL