Reality Television: America's Guilty Pleasure

Improved Essays
The Reality of Reality Television
1Reality television is America’s guilty pleasure. Millions of viewers tune in every week to find out what mayhem their favorite reality star is causing. Whether it’s a toddler in a tiara or a Kardashian, fans just can’t get enough of reality television. As their popularity rises, we notice a shift in society’s perception of these reality shows and evidence of their negative influences have emerged. Reality television can alter the viewer’s perception of reality, promote self-importance and distort the viewer’s moral compass. This perception has led some to believe that the propagation of reality programing is having a negative effect on society. 2Part of what makes reality shows so popular is their
…show more content…
Regular viewers of crime dramas are more likely to see the world as a dangerous place. Heavy viewers of reality television are more likely to believe the heightened theatrics of such shows reflect real world behavior. As bad behavior is often rewarded with attention and fame, these shows promote a lack of tolerance, compassion and understanding of others. At the same time, the viewer’s sense of self-importance is heightened. As the desire for status is just a means to get attention, oversharing on social media with “friends” the viewer doesn’t even know becomes important. The viewer thinks they are important if others pay attention to them and unimportant if they are ignored. With the reality shows emphasis on material things such as fame, money, cars, homes, fashion and beauty, the viewer can be persuaded to believe that these things are what makes someone successful, attractive or famous. These factors all contribute to the altering of ones perception of reality and promotes …show more content…
These effects are long term in the sense that the viewer mimics social cues learned from these shows which puts them at risk of damaging relationships, making poor choices and living a chaotic lifestyle. After watching the drama unfold week after week, the viewer finds that they are bored with the contentment of their own lives. While the issue is not that reckless living and bad choices are not real, the issue is that the creators of these shows produce a product that is celebrating these events for the purpose of entertainment. Which by most standards is morally distorted. With scripted scenarios and manipulative editing, how is this reality? How is a person supposed to act when there is an entire camera crew, lighting crew, and microphones following them around day after day? The viewer must be aware of the behind the scenes smoke- in- mirrors as they watch such programs. And parents of children and teenagers should be mindful of allowing their impressionable children to watch reality shows. As for the adult viewer, they should watch with the understanding that what they are viewing is not real. So, the reality of reality television is that, morally speaking, they are the perfect example of how not to behave in the real

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Reality Show Culture

    • 1035 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The common values spread by reality TV include materialism and as previously mentioned,…

    • 1035 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reality television has evolved over the decades and many people see it going in a downward spiral, in greater quantities and lower quality of content. In the article The Case for Reality TV by Michael Hirschorn he defends reality television, claiming that people often take these shows for face value and do not look for the deeper meaning behind them. He uses shows a wide range of reality shows and express that these shows are not only for entertainment value but also good mediums for social commentary. Also, Hirschorn includes how effective competitive shows are adept at explaining what people would do, much like an experiment, and are a good medium when explaining complex ideas. He uses reality television 's underlying factors and themes that…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Two perturbed reporters, Erin Cunningham and Serena Elavia both concur on how media such as photography and reality television can affect the health and well being of not only young girls and women, but the famous reality stars people religiously watch today. Cunningham and Elavia are able to agree and concentrate on three key points: views from the general public, poor behavior of the people behind the lens, and the potential health issues. According to author Erin Cunningham in “Our Photoshopping Disorder”, a former Hollywood marketing executive Seth Matlins always tried to vision the world through his daughter's eyes and conjectured what kind of woman she would one day become. Matlin contemplated the various obstacles that could possibly interfere in his daughters way for her to grow up and become like any other father would want “sustainably happy woman”.…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Derogatory Portrayal and its Effects of Women on Reality Television Many individuals are starting to suggest that the massive production of reality shows emanating negative connotations that reflect overly exaggerated images of womanhood could possibly be responsible for significantly contributing to the influx of emotional disturbances and/or behavior disorders. What society has openly embraced as friendly entertainment, has grossly underestimated and/or has a lack of knowledge in understanding the power of subliminal messages that are transmitted to the subconscious mind and as individuals mindlessly engage the viewings of destructive behaviors portrayed by woman; in addition, to the consequences of the psychological effects a large or consistent consumption of such negative influences can have on the mind; thereby, unknowingly establishing destructive patterns of…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Real, the Bad, and the Ugly by Cassie Heidecker is an interesting example of analyzing the reality TV epidemic and in addition to the people that view it. The author starts out by listing things that go into a reality TV production and things that happen in real life in order to state that these are two different things despite the idea that reality TV is supposed to be “real”. The mundanity of real life is emphasised here vs. the idea that reality TV is scripted and has a lot of extra work put into it to make reality TV more appealing to a broader audience. The author goes on to say that real life is boring which I thought was funny and a little ironic considering that later the author mentions that she is somebody who sets aside time…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As said by Georgia Jagger “Reality tv rots people’s brains.” Reality tv results in children and teens becoming sexists and believing in stereotypes. Reality tv ruins common morals and causes child and teens to act as the actors in the show. Parents should monitor the number of hours their children watch reality tv. Watching reality tv creates the basis of delusions and dangerous stereotypes for the impressionable.…

    • 329 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Reality TV In The 1970's

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Prior to that, shows with high ratings were frequently fictional in nature. Reality TV shows like Teen Mom, Keeping up with the Kardashians and Dash Dolls are being watched by adolescents and they are clearly influencing just about all aspects…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reality Television Show While reality television shows seem like simple form of entertainment, reality television holds a large impact on many decisions society makes. Whether it’s a simple catch phrase to a purchase we make, the influence often goes unnoticed. Even though we often tell ourselves that reality television holds no impact on society, reality television often defines the choices that we make. While not everyone prefers reality television, it is something we all become familiar with.…

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mothering the Movement was a lecture examining the active involvement of Black women during the Black Freedom Movement throughout the 20th century led by Dr. Derek Brooms on Wednesday January 18th. “Women are the heartbeat of the civil rights movement. Women are the caretakers and nurturers in this movement and within society,” said Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Louisville Dr. Derek Brooms. Dr. Derek Brooms began the lecture by playing the song ‘Trouble in Mind’ sung by several Black women of the civil rights era. “I started out with women’s voices, so you can hear the power they had within the community,” said Dr. Derek Brooms.…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Reality TV shows have impacted society negatively because they promote aggressive behavior and the use of drugs and alcohol causes society to imitate famous celebrities. While most of us think of Survivor as being the first reality TV show that came on air in 2000, reality television really started in 1948 with Allen Funt’s Hidden Camera show. Before it became a television show Funt had a radio show called Hidden Microphone which gave regular people unusual scenarios to react too (Slocum). Hidden Camera was an unscripted show that broadcasted unsuspecting people reacting to pranks. Then in 1992, MTV aired its first reality show the Real World.…

    • 2184 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Reality Tv Influence

    • 1452 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Many people watch these shows as well as teenagers television shows could also influence teenagers. In order to prevent scandals, privacy, and the audience from getting influenced by shows, reality television should be limited. Many television channels have dedicated their time on creating…

    • 1452 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Playing musical instruments, participating in outside hobbies, reading books, competing in board games and playing cards are not the ideal forms of entertainment these days. Television shows are now the new and improved way of everyday life. Some might argue that it is somewhat soothing; a way to escape from reality into an alternate, more appealing world. Television has the ability to be deceptive. What might be considered right or wrong can alter depending on what show is watched.…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Truman’s Authenticity Truman Burbank is the star of his own hidden camera reality show The Truman Show ever since he was in his mother’s womb. Christof (the director of The Truman Show) cites Truman’s “authenticity” as the reason that so many people love to watch him because Truman’s emotions and reactions are real the whole time and it made the audience feel a certain way when they watch Truman. With the show share a similarity with the movie Boyhood, about a boy name Madison and we as the audience watch Madison grow up from early childhood to arriving to college. Only thing between the two is that Boyhood is not a reality tv show that is live 24/7, and it is on a real set with the actors have real emotions and reactions. The Truman Show had paid actors to act as his friends and family for a very long time until Truman caught on that his life is really one big lie…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Not only is the steady decline obvious in kid shows, but reality shows have their own faults. I’ve noticed the rise of reality television and also the many forms in comes in. There is, however, one common theme among reality television and that is dramatization. Once viewers experienced the outrageous drama found in reality television, it only leaves them wanting more. Today, almost all reality shows are popular and highly advertised.…

    • 1255 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In her essay “Getting Real With Reality TV,” Cynthia Frisby examines how Reality TV has became one of the most watched television programs. Frisby then discusses her beliefs that, while watching Reality TV programs, viewers tend to draw comparisons between themselves and the reality star. She then gathers a team of researchers who conduct surveys that ask simple questions about participants relationship with Reality TV, and the team performs a content analysis on these participants while they view certain Reality TV programs. Ultimately, she suggests that her research shows that almost all participants showed some type of comparison between themselves and the reality star. Throughout her essay, Frisby uses adequate amounts of evidence to support…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays