In 1992, Reality Television was a novelty. In 2000, it was a fad. By 2010, it had become a way of life. Now, more than ever, it seems that these shows are everywhere. Just flip through the channels and it is easy to find an entire smorgasbord of reality shows. They literally range from A to Z. There are shows about animals, cooking, cleaning (or lack of), health and fitness and anything else that can be imagined. I believe that Reality Television has both a negative and a positive effect on the viewing public. For example, I do believe that some of these shows are highly immoral and will do anything for a buck. On the other hand, I also believe that many of these shows give a more positive message to society.
Back in the good old days, TV shows were more family oriented. Shows like The Andy Griffith Show, Leave it to Beaver, My Three Sons, and The Waltons were considered wholesome television. These types of shows taught family values, respect for oneself and others, and to live by the Golden Rule. Today’s TV shows are a lot less concerned with wholesomeness and more concerned with their ratings and endorsement deals. Morals have been thrown out the window and the more outrageous the show, the better. Our society has learned to laugh at other’s misfortunes. Hop over here and follow your favorite Reality TV stars of today.
One of the most negative reality TV shows that I can think of is Honey Boo Boo. Honey Boo Boo is a popular show that showcases the life of an overweight child beauty pageant contestant, Alana Thompson aka Honey Boo Boo from rural Georgia. The show also features Alana’s mother, her mother’s live in boyfriend, and Alana’s three sisters. The women in the show are all morbidly obese at best and appear to have little to no concern for their general cleanliness. Often times on the show, Alana’s mother, June Shannon, will openly discuss her dirty skin folds and will often pass gas on national TV and thinks that it is hilarious. These women are the picture of redneck trailer trash. What is this woman teaching her young, impressionable children? She certainly doesn’t teach them how to be ladylike or how to have respect for their body or themselves. None of them seem to mind that they’re out of shape, tacky, and project themselves as inbred. The show makes small-town Southern people look ignorant. June’s nurturing skills leave something to be desired. For example, June gives her daughter Alana “Go Go Juice”, which is a concoction of Red Bull and Mountain Dew. The cocktail contains as much caffeine as two cups of coffee. June gives Alana these drinks to get her ready for pageants. When she is criticized, June responds by saying, “at least I’m not giving her alcohol.” (Well, thank goodness for that.) Although the show itself has received tremendous criticism, there are networks that praise June for her “keen business sense”. She is able to feed her six person family on eighty dollars per week. June is known as the “Coupon Queen”. She also plays bingo and feeds her family road kill. June and her boyfriend, Sugar Bear often shop food auctions that sell nearly expired and damaged food. She also collects child support checks from each of the girls’ four fathers.
While most viewers know that this is about as trashy as it gets, they can’t help but watch. This show is absolutely deplorable. It’s like a bad wreck on the interstate: You want to stop staring, but you just can’t. This year, Honey Boo Boo had higher ratings than the Republican National Convention. What does this say about the society that we live in? We, as a society, are more concerned with watching uneducated people degrade themselves for a cheap laugh. Trash TV has become more important to Americans than who might be the next leader of our country. It is really sad to see where our true priorities lie.
On the other hand, there are some reality TV shows that still promote values, education and well being. The reality TV show, Intervention profiles people whose dependence on drugs and alcohol or other compulsive behavior has brought them to a point of personal crisis or estranged them from their families and loved ones. There are doctors and therapists that offer counseling with the family (the actual intervention). If the patient agrees, they are swept off to an undisclosed location where they will receive the treatment that they need to overcome their addictions. Thus far, Intervention has conducted 172 interventions since March 2005. Currently, 134 individuals are reported sober. Visit our link here and claim your promo code for Cable TV, Phone and Internet Bundled Packages.
Another positive reality TV show is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Extreme Makeover provides amazing home improvements for less fortunate families around the country. Each episode features a family that has suffered a recent loss or ongoing hardship. Often times, one of the family members might suffer from a life-threatening illness, requiring special equipment to be built into the home. These families are nominated by friends, families, and neighbors. The chosen home will receive interior and exterior upgrades, including landscaping. In cases where the home is beyond saving, it is rebuilt entirely. The show’s producers pair up with local contractors who donate materials and labor. Volunteers complete the project while the family goes on an all expense paid vacation for the next week. The cast creates an amazing new home, complete with upgrades. Without the burden of a mortgage, hope is often restored to the family and the community. Extreme Makeover is truly feel good TV. The viewers can help but become emotional while watching the show. It restores faith in humanity.
My father has always said, “A piece of paper will lay right there and let you write anything on it.” My father’s thoughts can be applied to any television script as well. A writer creates a show that they hope will produce high ratings. The ratings are what make or break a show. Our culture has fully embraced reality TV. It seems that the more unbelievable or outrageous a show, the more popular it becomes. These types of shows can be portrayed as negative or positive, depending on what type of audience the writers are trying to appeal to. Honey Boo Boo is one example of a show that I feel portrays a negative image of the Southern, the uneducated, and the poor. This show amplifies this image by airing the family’s lack of hygiene, their skewed views of the world that they live in and the lack of nurturing skills. Other shows such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition leaves the viewer with a renewed sense of faith in humanity. This show promotes the Golden Rule. The viewer cannot help but become emotional when learning that a down and out person finally gets a break that they deserve. I feel that reality TV can have a negative or a positive impact on society; it’s all up to the viewer to decide. Why is the viewer watching the show? Is it for entertainment or to restore faith or regain hope in themselves or the world? It’s all up to them. If they don’t like their chosen “reality” then they can be change it with just the click of a button. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
Back in the good old days, TV shows were more family oriented. Shows like The Andy Griffith Show, Leave it to Beaver, My Three Sons, and The Waltons were considered wholesome television. These types of shows taught family values, respect for oneself and others, and to live by the Golden Rule. Today’s TV shows are a lot less concerned with wholesomeness and more concerned with their ratings and endorsement deals. Morals have been thrown out the window and the more outrageous the show, the better. Our society has learned to laugh at other’s misfortunes. Hop over here and follow your favorite Reality TV stars of today.
One of the most negative reality TV shows that I can think of is Honey Boo Boo. Honey Boo Boo is a popular show that showcases the life of an overweight child beauty pageant contestant, Alana Thompson aka Honey Boo Boo from rural Georgia. The show also features Alana’s mother, her mother’s live in boyfriend, and Alana’s three sisters. The women in the show are all morbidly obese at best and appear to have little to no concern for their general cleanliness. Often times on the show, Alana’s mother, June Shannon, will openly discuss her dirty skin folds and will often pass gas on national TV and thinks that it is hilarious. These women are the picture of redneck trailer trash. What is this woman teaching her young, impressionable children? She certainly doesn’t teach them how to be ladylike or how to have respect for their body or themselves. None of them seem to mind that they’re out of shape, tacky, and project themselves as inbred. The show makes small-town Southern people look ignorant. June’s nurturing skills leave something to be desired. For example, June gives her daughter Alana “Go Go Juice”, which is a concoction of Red Bull and Mountain Dew. The cocktail contains as much caffeine as two cups of coffee. June gives Alana these drinks to get her ready for pageants. When she is criticized, June responds by saying, “at least I’m not giving her alcohol.” (Well, thank goodness for that.) Although the show itself has received tremendous criticism, there are networks that praise June for her “keen business sense”. She is able to feed her six person family on eighty dollars per week. June is known as the “Coupon Queen”. She also plays bingo and feeds her family road kill. June and her boyfriend, Sugar Bear often shop food auctions that sell nearly expired and damaged food. She also collects child support checks from each of the girls’ four fathers.
While most viewers know that this is about as trashy as it gets, they can’t help but watch. This show is absolutely deplorable. It’s like a bad wreck on the interstate: You want to stop staring, but you just can’t. This year, Honey Boo Boo had higher ratings than the Republican National Convention. What does this say about the society that we live in? We, as a society, are more concerned with watching uneducated people degrade themselves for a cheap laugh. Trash TV has become more important to Americans than who might be the next leader of our country. It is really sad to see where our true priorities lie.
On the other hand, there are some reality TV shows that still promote values, education and well being. The reality TV show, Intervention profiles people whose dependence on drugs and alcohol or other compulsive behavior has brought them to a point of personal crisis or estranged them from their families and loved ones. There are doctors and therapists that offer counseling with the family (the actual intervention). If the patient agrees, they are swept off to an undisclosed location where they will receive the treatment that they need to overcome their addictions. Thus far, Intervention has conducted 172 interventions since March 2005. Currently, 134 individuals are reported sober. Visit our link here and claim your promo code for Cable TV, Phone and Internet Bundled Packages.
Another positive reality TV show is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Extreme Makeover provides amazing home improvements for less fortunate families around the country. Each episode features a family that has suffered a recent loss or ongoing hardship. Often times, one of the family members might suffer from a life-threatening illness, requiring special equipment to be built into the home. These families are nominated by friends, families, and neighbors. The chosen home will receive interior and exterior upgrades, including landscaping. In cases where the home is beyond saving, it is rebuilt entirely. The show’s producers pair up with local contractors who donate materials and labor. Volunteers complete the project while the family goes on an all expense paid vacation for the next week. The cast creates an amazing new home, complete with upgrades. Without the burden of a mortgage, hope is often restored to the family and the community. Extreme Makeover is truly feel good TV. The viewers can help but become emotional while watching the show. It restores faith in humanity.
My father has always said, “A piece of paper will lay right there and let you write anything on it.” My father’s thoughts can be applied to any television script as well. A writer creates a show that they hope will produce high ratings. The ratings are what make or break a show. Our culture has fully embraced reality TV. It seems that the more unbelievable or outrageous a show, the more popular it becomes. These types of shows can be portrayed as negative or positive, depending on what type of audience the writers are trying to appeal to. Honey Boo Boo is one example of a show that I feel portrays a negative image of the Southern, the uneducated, and the poor. This show amplifies this image by airing the family’s lack of hygiene, their skewed views of the world that they live in and the lack of nurturing skills. Other shows such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition leaves the viewer with a renewed sense of faith in humanity. This show promotes the Golden Rule. The viewer cannot help but become emotional when learning that a down and out person finally gets a break that they deserve. I feel that reality TV can have a negative or a positive impact on society; it’s all up to the viewer to decide. Why is the viewer watching the show? Is it for entertainment or to restore faith or regain hope in themselves or the world? It’s all up to them. If they don’t like their chosen “reality” then they can be change it with just the click of a button. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
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