Writing - Humanities

Over the past five years, there has been a steady stream of "reality" based television shows in which unsuspecting people are subjected to life or death, challenging, strenuous, or simply ridiculous feats. Subjects once viewed in a sacred light such as marriage, parenthood, dating, and self-love have become twisted misconstrued topics of amusement as well as ridicule. Our society's distinct taste for "trash tv" suggests perhaps our generation is headed in a downward spiral that will never be completely rectified.

Television networks NBC, ABC, and FOX ushered in the reality trend in the late 90s with the arrivals of FOX'S American Idol, a program geared at elimination to find the most talented performer, NBC'S Trading Spouses, aimed at showing the dysfunction that can occur when parents from different backgrounds "trade" spouses and children, and ABC'S Extreme Makeover, a show that helped dissatisfied help with low self-esteem love themselves more by performing complete reconstructive surgery on them.

Let us take a minute to examine these three shows. American Idol is a hugely biased program that bases the winner on the number of votes taken for them by viewers; and presents an unhealthy view of what a performer should be, just in its name. Not one human being exists that deserves to be idolized. There is a fine line between respect and idolization. Trading Spouses uproots mothers and fathers from their home lives, urges them to take on a household different to their own, and causes rifts between the visiting spouse and the existing spouse. Extreme Makeover teaches the false doctrine that if you don't like the way you look you shouldn't worry, because you can always "pay" to fix it. Instead of teaching love and appreciation for one's natural gifts, this show teaches you to shun your beauty and aspire to someone else's image of you.

These are just a few examples of the filth that has become television. There have been literally dozens of shows hoping to achieve ratings by keeping the cameras rolling on someone's misfortune. Things like compassion and empathy are becoming historical terms, and pain is becoming equivalent to love. While not a avid fan of PBS and one that admits to watching crappy tv as well, I still wish that I can always have that one channel to watch when I want to learn something. If the quality of television fails to improve, my wish will never come true.



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