What's With Reality TV?

“Does television expose us to a diversity of people from all sorts of places with different lifestyles from our own? Or has TV replaced reality with “simulacra” as Baudrillard wrote?” I believe that the answer to that question varies, depending on what you choose to watch on television. However, after watching an evening of Monday night prime time television, I’d have to say I agree more with Jean Baudrillard’s theory.

Before this assignment and taking a Mass Communications course, I didn’t give as much thought to the reality that television presents to the world… or should I say the “reality TV” that is presented to the world. When I was asked to watch an entire evening of prime time television, I found myself gravitating to the same type of shows. Reality television has practically taken over the spotlight and you can almost always find some sort of reality program airing throughout the day.

At 8:00 PM last Monday evening, I began flipping through the channels and came across “Deal or No Deal” on NBC. I can’t help but leave this show on when I see it. I watched the show until it ended at 9:00 PM, and it was the same as always. It’s hard to watch this show and not think that if you were a contestant, you wouldn’t be greedy and would quit after winning a certain amount of money; however, it seems like the contestants can’t get enough and risk it all every time.

After the show ended, I knew I had to browse for thirty minutes before “The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman” came on at 9:30 PM. I stumbled across ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” I feel like this show is just an American Idol “wannabe,” and it doesn’t really interest me. However, if the show is still on after a few seasons, it must be doing well. Viewers can text or call-in to vote for their favorite couple. I can only imagine how many people spend their money on this…

Finally, the one show I was actually looking forward to watching came on ABC. On Easter, my mom asked me if I was going to watch the new season of “The Bachelor,” and I probably wouldn’t have known about it if it wasn’t for her! I can’t explain why this show is addicting, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Our society fixates on what we see on television, but when you evaluate the prime time television I watched on Monday, you have to ask yourself if the world we are living in is really the way it’s presented on TV. I don’t think it is. How many people do you know who have won millions on a game show, danced with a celebrity, or married someone they met on a reality show? The world doesn’t work that way. It’s odd that we base so much of our lives on what we see on television: hairstyles, fashion, and even the way we talk, when reality television isn’t an accurate representation of the world.

“Media scholar Joshua Meyrowitz argues that the very existence of television is an influence on society because it breaks down the physical barriers that separate people,” according to Hanson's "Mass Communication: Living in a Media World." Meyrowitz believes that television gives everyone the same, equal view of the world, but if we are watching reality TV, our view of the world is very different than if we are watching CNN. I think that it’s important to realize that reality TV is fun for entertainment, but we must not live our lives based on what we see on these shows.