Reality TV

Reality TV


Reality TV has been the craze in television for a few years now. In the beginning, it was new and completely different from the usual sitcoms and rehearsed TV shows, so it became popular fast. Recently, I’ve heard many people complaining that they are sick of reality shows, and that they want their sitcoms back. I on the other hand, still enjoy a few of the reality shows. Obviously others enjoy reality TV also, because it just keeps coming back season after season. The ratings for these shows still must be higher than many other rehearsed shows.
The question is though- Are these reality TV shows really reality? In a sense I say no. Anything that is recorded, edited and put on TV is not real life. They are more real to life than average shows such as sitcoms though, just because they do not have scripts to follow. Other than that, I believe that reality shows are just as staged as rehearsed shows.
One of my favorite reality shows is The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Yes, this show requires the chosen “bachelor” or “bachelorette” to make a real life decision on their own by choosing who they want to pursue either through dating or marriage. This is an everyday situation that many people go through, but it is in such a different environment. On this show, 25 men or women are pooled together in an amazing home with amazing living conditions. The bachelor/bachelorette then gets to go on extravagant dates with most of them, and decide who he/she likes the best. They send people that they don’t like home and the others get to stay until they are booted off or if they are the last one standing. This obviously isn’t a real life situation. I don’t believe that the average American has 25 guys/girls competitively fighting over them, and is able to go on luxurious dates with each and every one of them at the same time. It would be fun, but it just doesn’t happen.
I am not cutting down the show. I do enjoy watching it and I get hooked to it, but I believe that it is very far from reality. People act differently and make different decisions when they know that almost everything they do will be broadcasted to the world. Reality shows require people to make their own individual decisions, but none are ever in a real life setting. Therefore, I don’t believe that anyone could argue that reality TV is actually “real”.