Holocaust Essay, Research Paper

Reality Television

It gives us an escape, as we are snuggled deep in the folds of fluffy recliners in our comfortable homes, we watch, enchanted, as people supposedly a lot like us eat rats in the race for survival. People tune in to Survivor to see who was the most deceptive, who would conquer the physical challenges and who would have to abide by the tribe’s decision, pack it up and head home. Our love affair with reality TV is heightened this winter with contestants from the Tristate on at least four of the latest shows, including The Mole. The bottom line: We like to watch.

We love the violence, to some, reality TV is the car wreck we can’t avert our eyes from, the accident that slows traffic because drivers strain their necks to see what tragedy has befallen someone else. For others, it is merely harmless entertainment. We watch because we wonder what we would do in the same situation. TV producers count on us to somehow relate with Kate Pahls, the grandmother from Columbia Township, competing for $1 million on The Mole, and Rodger Bingham, the teacher from Crittenden, Ky., who hopes to put his farming skills to use on Survivor: The Australian Outback.

But there are some people who are purposefully tuning out this round of reality TV. They say it’s too voyeuristic and an invasion of privacy. The shows, which hinge on greed and dishonesty, cunning and back stabbing ability, teach the wrong lessons to children and adults.

Despite the latest craze in reality TV, the genre isn’t new it has become apart of our community. Candid Camera in the 1950s and 1960s played on the genuine emotions of real people who come to realize they’re the butts of a practical joke. Shows like Cops appeal to those who want to see the seamier side of life without experiencing it firsthand. MTV ratcheted up the idea of reality shows nearly a decade ago, with The Real World, which follows the twists and turns of several young people living in the same house.

Reality TV, such as shows like Survivor, shows us a lot about human nature, It shows us our dark side our self-centeredness and narrow minded individualism. It shows us people at their the lowest doing anything to win the $1 million, such as lying, becoming deceptive and doing anything to achieve the goal. The Survivor show demonstrates how people feel they need to survive in society as opposed to living in society. You would see this when people form alliances and setting people up to be kicked out of the game. This makes us, humans look very self-centered because we put our own self-worth ahead of someone else s.

In spite of all these negative aspects of reality TV there are some positive sides to it. In shows like Boot Camp, it shows us people working together to achieve a common goal. At the beginning of the show Survivor you see this as well each tribe working together to win the challenges. This is something we want to teach our children. People co-operating together is a prime example of why the human race is so dominate in the world, and if we can teach our children that if we work together there is not anything we can not achieve, technology and life will be limitless.

Reality TV is part of a disturbing social trend where the boundaries between private and public life erode, as media spectators become ever more voyeuristic. This explosion is most clearly revealed in phenomena such as confessional talk shows; the invasion of the private lives of politicians and celebrities by the papparazzi and tabloids; and webcams that allow individuals to broadcast the most intimate aspects of their lives to a global internet audience. Survivor is a showcase of American values and an allegory of predatory capitalism. Competition, greed, narcissism, and the fetishization of celebrity are blatantly on display. Social Darwinism moves to the foreground as the contestants fight it out each week to outlast both the natural elements and — far more grueling — one another. Initially, the team members are split up into “tribes.” A bad choice of words, for true tribes are organized around values of cooperation, whereas the pseudo-tribes of CBS practice cutthroat competition and engage in “alliances” only to further their own interests. As in capitalist culture in general, the spirit of cooperation is rarely manifest; rather, a war-of-all-against-all prevails.