Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Reality Check

June 22nd, 2010

Reality Television: A genre of television programming that presents unscripted or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people in place of professional actors.


WRONG. Kiss my ass dictionary editor. 


It's a well known fact- reality isn't really, well, reality.


I'll admit I'm a sucker for reality television. I was an original Laguna Beach junky who fell into that monstrosity known as The Hills. I spent years following The Real World and Big Brother. And just last year, I fell in love with Jersey Shore.


Yup- I'm one of them.


But, as a writer, wait, as a professional, this genre makes me sick. This might be entertaining, yes, but does it take talent? Absolutely not- my dog would make a killer reality show star. Hell, I would make front page news if they put me in front of a camera.


Earlier today I was reading an article about Kristin Cavalleri from Laguna Beach/The Hills. If you've ever had the displeasure of watching these two shows, you know that she's a class-A bitch- the one everyone loves to hate. She lives for the role. She puts herself in situations that give her a reason to act like a snotty, two-faced, overdramatic wench. Yet the person writing this particular article said that she was 'a force of nature' and would 'go far.'


In what? Porn?


The individuals in these shows have no concept of reality- and that's the problem. Many of them, after their bit parts in some bit show, think that they're models, actors, writers- we've heard it before. It's as amusing as The Terminator running California.


Wait, that really is happening isn't it?


Reality shows are awesome for a few laughs. We feel connected, just like we do with any other television show. But the problem is they produce way too many Situations, New Yorks, and other freak shows that think they're talented even after their 15 minutes of fame is up. What's worse is that we put them up to this- we're the ones who fuel their fire.


The morale of this story is simple- don't confuse reality with reality. All of these shows are scripted. All of their stars are fake. The fact of the matter is, do we even know what reality is anymore?


Somewhere, blurred between the lines, I'm sure we do. Follow Lauren Conrad, and get a fucking clue.

Peace, Love and Heartbreak ♥
A

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It doesn't take talent to be a reality star, but it takes a lot of talent to make one. Those people onscreen aren't thinking up what to do, how to react, or (sometimes) even what to say. Producers and story editors have to really be creative to make the shows as entertaining as they are. If you can make some no-talent slob into a star, imagine what you can do with someone with some brains and ability.

andrea said...

Now that I've started producing a lot of reality-based shows... I couldn't agree more with this comment. Well said.