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Volume 38 Issue 2
September 19, 2000

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Reality TV a real drag

DISSECTING TINSELTOWN
MESA LEGEND
Submitted September 19, 2000

Folks, I have committed an unpardonable sin in the eyes of the TV gods. Can the white-collar, ratings-lovers at CBS forgive me, for I have never watched an entire episode of the phenomenon that is “Survivor?”

Yes, it is true. And apparently I am one of the few who could care less. That’s right, I weep for humanity and the manner under which it is portrayed on shows like “Survivor,” “Big Brother,” “Making the Band” and “The Real World,” reality-based TV shows that are running rampant like a plague across the airwaves.

Television actors are panicking. Will this trend threaten their careers?

Is quality television diminishing as pop-culture continues to progress toward greediness and shallowness?

There are countless reasons why I think “reality-based” television, as trumpeters are calling it, is worthless entertainment.

Number one: Callous, average people are being placed in the spotlight on these types of shows. Becoming a celebrity no longer requires talent, charm, charisma or hard work.

You just have to be “the norm.”

Number two: This genre represents a total lack of imagination. David Duchovny running from little green men on “The X-Files” is a whole lot more captivating than watching people get up in the morning and brush their teeth on “Big Brother.”

It’s no secret that the appeal of reality-based television is the voyeuristic quality involved.

Us eavesdropping Americans can tune in and witness the average-Joe being placed in a strange situation.

Our almost sadistic cravings for conflict, argument and greed are then satisfied as we gawk at naked contestants competing for a million bucks or watching two attractive college students mud-slinging in New Orleans.

It is low-denominator enter-tainment. But it sells.

Now it’s time for round two as the fall season is rapidly approaching. Expect to see more than one “Survivor” clone.

We are starting to see less and less Hollywood on our television sets and more documentary-style reality shows starring the people we watch TV to escape from in the first place — people like you and me.

Jordan Currier is the features editor of the Mesa Legend and a sophomore at MCC.

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