Just recently I watched the movie, The Truman Show, staring Jim Carey. If you have never heard of this movie before, it is about a man who has grown up on a TV show but has no idea. Ever since he was born he has been a star of a show, with hidden cameras, actors, in a made up town. This show is on 24/7, with product placement worked into the TV show as the revenue stream. This is the only life Truman has ever known, so when he figures out what is going on it is a huge shock for him. What is interesting about The Truman Show is that it came out in 1998, and it was very ahead of its time about reality TV. Flash forward to 2015, there is guaranteed to be reality TV show on at least one network. The Truman Show got me thinking about why our society is so interested in reality TV, even when we know that it is more fake than real.
1. We need an escape.
After a long day, we turn on our TVs at night for a distraction of our own lives. Reality TV shows are mind-numbing. You do not need to think hard about what you are watching, or even have to fully pay attention.
2. We wish we lived their lies.
Mansions, many cars, designer clothes, no wonder we wish could be like our favorite reality stars. Who would not want to be Kim Kardashian with all her money, her clothes and her model career? We envy the bachlorette as she has MANY options for future husbands, when everyone else is just trying to get one guy to like them. 
3. We feel like we watched them grow up.
I love watching old reruns of Keeping Up with the Kardashians because you get to see how much they have changed. We have been watching Kendall and Kylie grow up to be superstars, and Kim Kardashian go through a lot of botox/plastic surgery. Every breakup a character in the show went through, we mourned with them. When Rob broke up with Adrienne(the cheetah girl) or when Khloe and Lamar got divorced, it felt like we lived through those hard times with them.
4. We compare our lives to theirs.
I used to love watching "The Hills" on MTV, even though I knew it was "fake" reality TV. Despite this, I still tried to emulate Lauren Conrad's life, by getting dressed up to go to lunch with my friends. The reality was that my life was nothing like what happened in the show, but I liked to believe it was true. Our normal lives are boring compared to the scripted drama that would take place on TV shows such as "The Hills," but a girl can try.
5. We believe we can be on a reality TV show, and then become famous.
The Jersey Shore proved that it does not take someone rich, or smart to become famous on a TV show. Anyone can be filmed to party, or live in a house with complete strangers. Reality TV all started with "Survivor." The show took regular people and placed them on a island to make them do extreme challenges. We watch shows like "The Jersey Shore," "The Real World," "Survivor," and "The Bachlor" because we know that these people were ordinary until they signed up to be on reality TV. All you have to do is fill out some paperwork and you are one step away of being famous! We all have had that dream that we were on a reality TV show, and became SUPER famous(It's okay to admit it, we have all been there).
All in all, our culture worships reality TV stars. We emulate them, we follow them around, we read tabloid articles about them. In reality, these people are actors, putting on a version of themselves for TV and ratings.
