"Keeping Up with the Kardashians," any of the "Real Housewives" shows and "The Hills" are just some of the reality TV shows that I strongly dislike. I'm an over-thinker. During every episode I watch of these shows, all I think is, Why are there cameras in your house? and There's no way this isn't scripted-- nobody talks about these things at the kitchen table. These things are probably not what the network has in mind of things I should be thinking when filming these shows.
What I'm wondering is, why do these shows get millions of viewers each week?
Maybe I'm the crazy one. Maybe I'm insane for not seeing the entertainment in TV shows like these. Although I am guilty of watching shows like "The Bachelor/Bachelorette," I, along with the men and women on that TV show, are all clued into the insane situation those people are in. The Kardashians, for example, actually seem to think that they are worthy of these lights and cameras.
For example, I watched two seasons of "The Bad Girls Club" and I felt like these were women who could only, and I mean only, make it on a television if their only job is to argue with each other and take trips to the beach. It's a mind-numbing series, so I can see why it's easy to binge-watch something like it, but to actually like it? Nope, not me.
Let me put it this way: for the majority of your time living with your parents, you were rewarded for good behavior and scolded for bad behavior to some extent, whether it be in small or large doses. Reality television basically rewards bad behavior. We are raised to be acceptable human beings, to maybe graduate high school and go to college, maybe get a degree or maybe just get a job and become a part of society - but while we are doing this, we are watching these TV shows where girls get cameras pushed in their faces for punching their housemates in the face and doing illegal activities.
Apparently if it's on television, it's totally okay to do.
So I'm not 100 percent bashing all reality television shows that have ever aired. The recent evolution of reality television, though, has unfortunately taken a turn for the worse. Game shows like "Family Feud" and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" used to be all the rage. Now "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and "The Bad Girls Club" are the basis of most reality television shows. Those shows that exploit people's "real life" issues, like "True Life: (insert life event here)," are not putting society in a positive light.
I see Kim and Kanye in the news more often than the presidential candidates. WHY?!
Oh, that's why.
I didn't necessarily grow up in a household that sat up on Saturday nights watching old-time game shows, but I know that these new versions of reality television shows are affecting those just flipping through the channels at home. They degrade family values, encourage selfishness and unhealthy relationships and promote negative body and self images - and there is the obvious and sometimes illegal behavior that just shouldn't be acted out in real life.
This topic is just one out of a dozen that explain why I don't have cable and haven't had it in a very long time-- but that's just my two cents.
