Reality TV(d)

Yep, that's how I view the majority of "reality" TV...I liken it to a disease that you may think you are having fun one minute and then you find out later on that you were just hurting yourself.

First let me clarify that I don't mean ALL reality TV...just the crappy stuff, you know 98.7% of it. I still give Survivor a chance every year, and sometimes I keep watching, other times I don't. I can give American Idol respect for at least being about something, I just don't like the genre of music they sing (give me an american idol "metal" edition and I'm all over it, or at least until it just gets TOO stupid).

I'm talking about the not-even-close-to-reality TV of relationships, people living in houses together, blah blah blah that are so obviously vehicles for wannabe actors and egos of massive proportion that actually think the public cares what they say or do. Now wait for the crazy part though...


they do! That is what gets me the most, there are important things going on in the world that we don't care enough about that really DO need our attention (Believe me I am not preaching here, I am one of the worst, my wife and I sponsor a child in Africa every month, and that is pretty much my sole claim to fame of being a "caring" person to those not directly around me) and then there are the most useless, self involved people in the world that are being propelled to celebrity status by virtue of a partially scripted, sometimes entertaining, always pathetic reality show. Those people are the ones we care about, they have their every move followed, analyzed and commented on, and it drives them to do more and more stupid crap to get noticed more.

The not-so-Real World started it all, back then it was sort of cool, you didn't know what to expect and the relationships seemed real. Now, everything that is REAL has been done before and they had to start making stuff up...it's unfortunate that most of reality TV draws from that plan and not the original. After every single dating show ends up with the final couple not staying together for more time then it takes to get to the reunion special, how is it that people still watch? A MySpace wannabe who would get a "sort of cute" comment in a bar if anyone saw her all the sudden has her own show because she is willing to take off her clothes and kiss other girls...and a pile of men AND women are lining up to be with her, even after they saw what happened to the first "winner" (I'm not sure exactly what happened, but there is a season 2, so I doubt they are at home waiting for her to get home from work).

One of the most depressing things each night is the audible "ugh" when I once again check the menu on my TiVo and the entire network TV section is a useless landscape of lame "unscripted" (yeah right) TV shows. It has actually come to the point where the commercials for the fall shows are better than what is on TV on the networks. At least some of the cable stations are getting it right with some great new shows (but we'll talk about that later).

My biggest thought among all this is that if we all got together and stopped watching or caring, maybe they would all just go away, people would start to actually work for a living again instead of dreaming of being bachelorette #27 on season 14 (please god, don't let that be my daughters goals) and concentrate on what good they could do in the world.

Then, to top of the reality TV world, we have the same people explode into the tabloid world. I don't care what your kids look like, I'm sure they are very cute, just please let them have more to their lives then you cashing in on their baby photos. At least Brad and Angelina I can see the passing interest in what they look like...$20 million though...really? (note: they will most likely give the $$ to charity...good for them). Over $1 million for what amounts to Britney's niece? (because god knows what Jamie Lynn has ever done, and she will most assuredly NOT give the $$ to charity).

Which brings us to the most irritating aspect of all of this...fame for being famous. That essentially means you have done NOTHING. At least Britney did some stuff before she became a train wreck, but anyone who says they only pay attention because they like to see celebs fall must not realize that you are actually helping them to not fall...they call the papparazzi and tell them they are coming (for $$)-they sell photos to tabloids and then complain about how they got out etc etc. The people that need to most go away (IMHO) are people like the Kardashians and Heidi and Spencer. I have never seen any show any of them have been on, and have never read a tabloid, but I know WAY TOO MUCH about these people that have done nothing to warrant knowing about them. I will never understand how this has happened that 2 self-serving talentless hacks with brutal narcissistic personalities have captured the interest of the public the way that Spencer and Heidi have. Good personalities. Nope. Talent. Nope. It's amazing, but people continue to care too much about people like them, and they laugh about it all the way to the bank. The scariest thing is, while turning through the channels I happened to catch Spencer saying his ultimate goal is politics.

Politics. Spencer. leadership. scary shit.

I think the saddest thing about all of this is that I'm willing to bet it happens. Even scarier, I think someone like him will fit in with the current state of that not-so-reality show going on right now called government.

(disclaimer: not ALL government is a bad thing, just the ineffectual, never gonna lose their seat no matter what happens guys, who will continuously pander to the big money holders and don't have a forward thinking bone in their bodies)

OK...that's it

more positive next time

scribbler