Reality T.V. , Helpful or Hurtful?

You have seen the “ridiculousness” of most reality TV shows, but why do some people, especially teens, still choose to watch them? Reality TV is a very narrow peek into the lives of people who have an unrealistic reality, in fact, most of their lives are written by a producer. These cast members are to do one thing with those lives, make sure it is drama filled so that they make money through that drama. The reputation of most reality TV show cast members is demolished by the finale of their first season. Honestly, the problem lies not only with the producers or cast members, but the audience. It is the audience that allows these shows to have numerous amounts of views. The audience are the people unintentionally saying to those cast members and producers, “Ignorance is bliss, so keep at it!” But their ignorance shouldn’t be bliss, it is disturbing and degrading, not only for them, but to the audience that they are targeting. Take for instance the 16-year-old girl who thinks she is not pretty enough, and watches a reality TV show for the first time and instantly gets hooked. That 16-year-old girl is now being influenced by women who wear tons of make-up and are praised by the media because of their “beauty,” when in actuality it’s as fake as their lives portrayed on their show. That 16-year-old girl and many other girls and women like her are being lied to and influenced by the negative influences suggested through reality TV. It is vital that we don’t allow producers to tell us what we should look like, or the lifestyle(s) we should admire, but that we are confident enough in ourselves to say that we are much greater than that.