Reality TV and It's Side Effects

Reality television has had a large impact on the entertainment industry since it's beginnings. It gives the audience a window into the personal lives of people who live lives that seem glamorous and intense. In some cases, as is with Jersey Shore, the spectator also gets an ego boost, thinking they are better and smarter than those they see on television. The new found popularity of reality television has also lead to other shows mimicking the window into anther’s lives. For example, Modern Family uses interviews to make it seem as though the characters are real people who are conscious of being filmed.

The public's infatuation with reality television is much like that of their infatuation with sports. They live their lives through the people on the screen, the triumphs of the random strangers being their triumphs, the losses of the random strangers being their losses. Reality television acts as a simulation, allowing everything to be lived without actually escaping the watcher's comfort zone. One can live it up on the party scene while staying safely in their own homes, not risking STDs or hangovers. It's the perfect situation for the modern day couch potato.

Most reality shows today are geared towards the young adult audience, as it tends to be young adults who are more interested in watching horrible television in the first place. It gives the youth of a nation hope that one day, they too will be standing in front of a panel of judges that will decide if they're attractive enough to be America's next top model, or if they have enough talent to be the next American idol. This fad, however, is not only isolated to the land of the free and home of the brave. The roots of the great tree of reality tv are slowly snaking their tendrils into the rest of the world. As other countries begin to make their own versions of the American hits (or the other way around), reality tv begins to slowly take over the lives of those who never leave their homes. Which is actually a large amount of the population, so reality tv is coming very close to taking over the world (at least the the television world anyway).