We don’t rant enough on GeekFest Rants. Today, I’m going to rant – big time – about reality television. Before I get started, do I really need to say that I’m not attacking people who watch it? Do I think it’s a colossal waste of time? I do. However, if that works for you, then so be it. If you take umbrage at my opinions you’re free to voice your own.
And in the interest of full disclosure, I admit to watching American Idol up until last year. I also watched Trading Spaces, Last Comic Standing, and perhaps my most grievous sin, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I even watched The Real World in its infancy. At the moment, I don’t watch any, and I was never what you might call a fan. I watched nearly all of them as concessions to my wife.
One of my favorite cheesy classics from the 80s is a little film called The Running Man. Based on a short story by Stephen King and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, it told the story of a reality television show set in the future where contestants literally ran for their lives against a series of colorful assassins. In the wake of the schlock we have been subjected to in the last decade I often wonder, are we that far away from the future depicted in that film?
Reality television takes many forms, some more disgraceful than others. I don’t really have issues with home improvement shows like you might find on HGTV or cooking shows on Food Network. Those shows, while seeking to entertain, also provide a service. I can deal with the singing contests, to a degree, but I don’t watch them.
My real animosity is for the shows that spun out of Real World, like Big Brother and more recently, Jersey Shore – the shows that make celebrities out of sad individuals who aspire to nothing but fame – who bring nothing to the table but an overabundance of bad taste, bad manners and a complete lack of shame.
The amped up drama created by the show’s producers is sickening, and the “performers” seem only too happy to oblige. I think what bothers me more than anything is how these low foreheads are lionized by people. Granted, I don’t necessarily agree with the esteem in which certain legitimate performers are held, but this phenomenon is a whole new low.
It also bothers me that scripted programming has taken a huge hit from reality tv. Today, it seems as though about 50% of programs are reality based, putting tons of writers, directors, actors and other production personnel out of work.
There’s a population of actors that will never go hungry. I’m talking about the ham and eggers who live on guest shots, story arcs and occasionally win a supporting role in an ongoing series. They possess a skill. They are trained professionals, not like these morons who strut and fret like loud mouthed baboons.
To be fair, there is (and was) plenty of woeful scripted programming, like the innumerable low brow sitcoms I was reared on. And yes, much scripted programming is unimaginative comfort food like your Law and Orders (which I watch) and CSIs. If anything, it seems the emergence of reality tv has forced purveyors of scripted works to up their game with programs like Lost.
Today, it seems as if channels that used to provide challenging, thought provoking programs are churning out nothing but reality drivel. TLC is a prime example. I can’t even sit through a commercial for Long Island Medium or Sister Wives.
Another thing that bothers me about reality television is how exploitive it is. It exploits people’s least endearing traits. It encourages them to mine the worst in themselves for the sake of shock value. At its worst, it encourages behavior you would discourage in your children.
One of the most dispiriting phenomena for me are the shows featuring washed up celebs making a final grab at the spotlight, but I guess a girl’s gotta eat.
In the summer, when it’s all reality all the time I travel the international highways and byways to find quality scripted programming from any English-speaking country. There are a number of great dramas and comedies produced in the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand (they also crank out plenty of reality programs – no country is immune to the phenomenon). The line tends to blur in other countries where you see respected actors handling “presenter” duties on game shows, reality shows, etc.
I’ll watch anything scripted that’s decent – and that includes everything from sitcoms to costume dramas, from procedurals to “arc shows,” although I tend to shy away from soapy chick dramas like Grey’s Anatomy.
Reality television isn’t going anywhere and while I object to it strenuously there’s nothing I can do about it. I find some of it harmless and much of it offensive. Like anything else, it’s a subjective judgment. I don’t think any less of anyone who enjoys it. There are people who watch nothing but sports or documentaries or art house films. There are people who don’t watch television at all.
However, it’s been a long time since I let loose with a good rant and this one’s been boiling for a long time. If you disagree, feel free to put me in my place!
I hear you, Steve. Other than Survivor, I have little interest in any reality TV. I've watched a couple of episodes of Dancing with the Stars, which can be entertaining, but not enough to make a habit of it. I keep my kids away from it, too (except Survivor.) We need to get back to having celebrities with real talent and halfway decent morals for kids to see. And, it's our generation and the one after that is to blame. The children who want, want, want, and get, get, get have grown up to be the producers, programmers, execs, whatever and they are willing to appease whims (their own and viewers) to make sketchy behavior the norm. The line has been breached and will continue to wear away to the left and right until it all but disappears.
Posted by: Kim Perrone | 11/03/2011 at 08:35 AM