Is reality TV Respectable or Immoral?
In the article The Real Effects of Reality TV written by sophomore Micki Fahner, she talks about how reality TV has change the worl of entertainment! "eople no longer nee the big name actors an actresses to keep them gossiping at work, but instea people who seem to be a#erage e#ery ay citi$ens are the ones the #iewers are intereste in! The more people can relate the better ratings! "eople also en%oy rama an it&s almost like these reality stars are frien s that they can %u ge an gossip about it later! 'herri (illiams, a "h) says It seems that reality show irectors an pro ucers are not looking to cast whole, complete people! They&re casting types, an that lea s to stereotyping Williams, Sherri The Real Effects of Reality TV. USA Today College. The problem with stereotyping is that it can make the people not associate with the reality show look ba ! For instance people may think e#eryone from *ersey acts like the cast of Jersey Shore! The more outrageous an unacceptable to society these shows get, the more people want to tune, in! Reality TV is so cheap to pro uce an yet so profitable that it isn&t going anywhere anytime soon! Reality TV is Making us 'marter, E#en (hen It&s 'tupi written by +rian Moylan, touches on the goo that comes from reality shows! ,rant Mc-racken from Wired Maga i!e says, .ot only o we learn things from ifferent cultures other than our own, but it also makes us look beyon the surface of what we&re watching to fin the true meaning! It isn&t e#ery ay people act or ress the way the people on reality shows such as Jersey Shore, do. Moylan makes a goo point, that %ust because one may watch reality TV oesn&t mean they necessarily agree with the actions an are going to go act that way as well! (hat can be taken away from this message is, people in a certain area ha#e a ifferent i ea of how to li#e life! That
oesn&t mean it&s wrong though! /es, para ing aroun
runk in front of a camera for o,
millions of people to see, probably isn&t the classiest thing a young women coul but there is more to reality TV than that! Reality TV can help people become more open min e if they are willing to watch without %u gment an hol on to the i ea
that they are learning something new! Maybe people can try to appreciate a family that raises 01 ki s, an works har for their money, or learn about the e#ery ay struggles of con%oine twins! Reality TV is suppose to be about people an lifestyles that the #iewer oesn&t un erstan , so why not learn from that2 Viewers can take what they want from reality TV, it is up to the in i#i ual to make something goo out of it! 'te#en Reiss an *ames (ilt$ e3plain why 4mericans lo#e reality TV in their article, (hy 4merica 5o#es Reality TV They con ucte a sur#ey, where they aske 671 people what their choice of tele#ision programming was, an their #alues an esires base on the Reiss profile! The Reiss "rofile is a stan ar i$e test on the 08 basic esires an #alues such as, status! They foun that most people they talke to sai they only watche reality TV in or er to contribute in the con#ersations with frien s an coworkers! 9owe#er, Reiss e3plains Reality TV allows 4mericans to fantasi$e about gaining status through automatic fame! Reiss, Ste"e!, Why America #o"es Reality TV. $sychology Today. We%. Se&tem%er ', ())'. Reiss isn&t thinking of the reality shows where people are rinking an getting into fights for no reason! 9e is talking about shows where people are competing for the ultimate pri$e, whether it&s something like money or a recor eal! 'te#ens talks about how
the #alues in a ma%ority of these reality shows ten to be along the line of, #engeance an a competiti#e nature! "eople want to see the contestants betray one another an o whate#er it takes to win! That gi#es #iewers the capacity to relate to
these now well:known people an the hope that they coul one ay ha#e money an fame as well! 4fter rea ing these articles, one can take away that not all reality TV is so ba ! E#en the shows that seem ri iculous an make some people won er why anyone woul fin it entertaining! Reality TV is a profitable, entertaining an e#en e ucational at times! (hether it is learning about the ifferent cultures or about a me ical con ition that wasn&t t un erstoo before, it all e3pan s the knowle ge of the #iewer! There are so many Reality shows out there now, that it woul be har to not fin something to interest %ust about anyone! "eople want like to li#e #icariously through reality stars! (atching people o things that most know they probably coul ne#er o, is intriguing! 9ow many opportunities has an a#erage banker ha to scale a buil ing to win a million ollars2 It is e3citing an gi#es people the chance to feel the emotions that the reality stars feel! It&s the same reason there is social networking! "eople want to compare themsel#es to their peers an feel en#ious an hopeful that one ay that coul be like them, or make themsel#es feel better about their own li#es when looking at someone less fortunate! That&s why there are ifferent natures of reality shows that can accommo ate any #iewer! If someone wants to feel better about themsel#es then they might watch Jersey Shore, an if they want to feel hopeful they woul watch America! *dol! Through rea ing three ifferent articles about Reality TV it is clear that e#eryone has a ifferent opinion on it! (hile some people might think it is garbage that is umbing own 4mericans, others see it as an opportunity to un erstan an learn from ifferent cultures! The best thing to o is take something positi#e away
from it all! (hile shows like Tee! Mom an +ere Comes +o!ey ,oo ,oo are about a#erage people&s li#es, an on&t really offer more than that, why not try to try to
fin the goo from them! Most people %u ge others base on what they think is normal! 'o a large women making spaghetti sauce from ketchup may ha#e a lot of people saying that is isgusting, but who are they to %u ge her2 'omeone coul %ust as easily think that ri#ing aroun in an e3pensi#e car while a single mom is taking the bus with her ki s because she can&t affor a car, is isgusting! It epen s on each in i#i uals #alues! In conclusion Reality TV will affect e#eryone in a ifferent way! (hether someone really gets a kick out of watching people fight or watching someone win money for ha#ing an outstan ing #oice! It is not going away anytime soon! It makes money an people are pro#ing that they en%oy it by tuning, in each week an talking about it amongst frien s, family an coworkers! 'o the only thing to o is ether fin something to watch or prepare to hate TV because soon it may be all that there is to watch!
(orks -ite Fahner, Micki! The Real Effects of Reality TV! USA Today College. (eb! 4pril 0;, 6<06! Moylan, +rian! Reality is Making us 'marter, E#en (hen it&s 'tupi ! +olly-ood.com! (eb! =ctober >, 6<06!
Reiss, 'te#ens an (ilts, *ames! (hy 4merica 5o#es Reality TV! $sychology Today. We%. 'eptember 0, 6<<0!
