Reality Only in a Relative Sense

Has anyone else out there noticed the bizarre influx in the number of so-called "reality" TV shows? As a wise man once said, "reality sucks!"

I guess you could say that all this foolishness began with Survivor. Sure there were other shows of this type on the air prior to this, but Survivor was the one that started the trend. The plot line was simple, yet complex: sixteen strangers were put on a remote island. People were voted off the island on a weekly basis. Anyone who didnít conform with the rules was gone as well. The last person remaining won a million dollars. The million dollars almost seemed like an afterthought however, as practically every person on the show has earned much more money than that through book sales, promotion, talk show appearances, you name it.

The strange things were the activities they were forced to participate in. I mean come on, eating bugs? Though itís called "Reality TV," the eating of cock roaches is not part of my reality. When my friends and I get together, we generally do not do this. Then again, maybe we're just not up with the current insect eating trends. I wouldn't rule that one out.

The original Survivor spawned more bad rip-offs than Pokemon (why do horrifically terrible things always have to reproduce?). For some reason, people had loved Survivor and now they were eating up all these imitations. Suddenly, a new era of fictitious reality TV was dawning. Shows like the bust Big Brother, Survivor 2 (set in the Australian Outback), and the upcoming Boot Camp. And let's not even mention the moralistic decay of Temptation Island. Heck, even the World Wrestling Federation has gotten in the act, with an upcoming "reality" show called Tough Enough, slated to air on MTV. As 2001 winds on, expect more fake reality shows.

All these shows claims at being real are shrouded in the fact that they are allegedly unscripted. Then again, so is Whose Line Is It Anyway, and nobody is calling that reality TV as of late. Just how long will it be before there is a real Truman Show? That would certainly be tragic, but theoretically possible through the use of sophisticated holograms.

Perhaps I'm being unfair. Certainly MTV's The Real World deserves it's share of the blame for all these monstrosities. The truly terrifying fact however is this: They are popular shows. Now whether or not that is a sadder statement about the television networks or the viewing public is a mystery. Perhaps people would rather watch people on TV do things that no normal person would every do than live their own lives, all for the sake of so-called "reality." One thing is for sure though: we can expect more unreal reality shows in the future, as TV continues to assert its total dominance of the average schmoe's pathetic life.

- John Brown is a senior in political science and history at the University of Tennessee @ Knoxville. Contact him at johnnyb325@aol.com, or visit www.johnnorrisbrown.com. This column was originally written for a Spring, 2001 edition of The Roane State Review.