THE DEATH OF TV

0 Monday June 20 2011 Written by Sandra
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I confess I’m a reality TV addict. I watched Big Brother, still watch X Factor and I even watched Celebrity Love Island (hangs head in shame). Although I did try to maintain my dignity not watching “I’m a Celebrity Get Me out of Here” (D list celebs eating insects is not my idea of entertainment). Reality TV has changed. TV executives are not hiding behind the social experiment premise any more because with “scripted reality” it’s just pure unadulterated trash. I’m still not sure what scripted reality means. If scenes have been set up for entertainment purposes surely it’s no longer real?

For me it all started with The Hills- the MTV show which followed Lauren Conrad embarking on a new “career” in Los Angeles. Here in the UK “The Only Way Is Essex”, “Made in Chelsea” and “Geordie shore” have all vomited fake tan, fast cars and dodgy dialogue over our TV screens. I wouldn’t be surprised if the only thing real about these stars were their names.

I keep asking myself why watch these shows if they’re so bad? A friend came up with the perfect response “it’s like a bad book once you start reading it you need to know how it ends” It’s guilt free gossip, like a soap opera except it’s real (ish). We can gawp at other people acting like darn fools while congratulating ourselves for not being that bad.

Recently I’ve been called out for watching these shows. My first reaction was defensive after all:

a) I’m not hurting anybody

b) It’s can’t be that bad because reality TV has kept the Kardashian family out of the poor house.

c) I’m not going to fall out of clubs, have sex with anyone/anything or apply fake tan all over my naked body in a kitchen while people are eating just because I saw those crazy kids on Geordie shore doing it.

d) I don’t see why I should be responsible for those who might.

Then I felt quite selfish. To a certain extent we are all responsible for the young and impressionable who are prone to being seduced by negative influences. However the point which hit me hardest was that other quality programming isn’t getting made because this is cheaper (The Only Way is Essex stars don’t get paid) and pulls in more viewers. I like reality TV but I also like watching other things too. Young people shouldn’t be patronised and pigeonholed by a bunch of middle aged execs telling us what we want instead of asking.

So now I’m going to compare my relationship with reality TV to junk food- once in a while is alright but too much and it might make me sick.