Reality Shows, Are They Real?
By Pocs39
@Pocs39 (39)
August 4, 2012 5:14pm CST
With the explosion of reality shows being brought into our homes, it's hard not to get caught up in the "realisim" of them all. I am of course not talking about the competition type reality shows such as Survivor, Amazing Race or any of the talent shows that are popping up on what seems like a nightly basis. It is the Real Housewives of..well anywhere nowadays, the Sister Wives, the Pawn Stars and the Cake Boss type shows that cause me to raise a eyebrow. Do they really pose a glimpse into the reality of what many of us consider "Real" life. Although maybe entertaining and perhaps addictive, the people on these shows are in fact NOT the normal intreputation of today's lifestyle. Most of us live pay check to pay check and are 2 paychecks away from losing our homes, we don't have the luxury of deciding wether to drive ourselves or to be chauffeured to the amuse bouche/ wine tasting across town. Our version of that consists of our weekly trip to the local market in our mini van or 4 door sedan, with maybe a sample of the new Chex Mix flavor and a small taste of the latest fruit juice. Of course served in the finest paper and plasticware available. If you have watched these shows, some of them start off by being, well kind of like the rest of us, but by season 3, they are building new homes, stalked by the paparazzi and starting a business of their own. So what starts off like something we can relate too, quickly changes into something we dreamed to be. Sure some of them are filmed in their place of business, a booming business that is, with difficult decisions of what to order for lunch or what new piece of high end jewlery to buy their wife and again, not the real world, as most of us know. Not all, but many of the people who let cameras into their lives are already wealthy, own 75,000 square foot homes, drive a different car every other day and spend more money on their pets accessaries than I make in a week. I'm not faulting them or belittling them in anyway. I'm sure they have worked hard for all they have. My problem lies with the tag "Reality Show". In my opinion shouldn't a reality show, be based on how the majority or the masses of the public live, work and play, and not a small elite group of people who in fact have already "moved on up". Shouldn't they be referred to as "Not the typical reality shows".
4 responses
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
5 Aug 12
I think many people don't want to see people struggling to make ends meet, as that is already their life. Personally, I like to have some of the luxuries that make life easier and last year we moved into a house with a swimming pool. Most of our neighbors have a pool, but we are probably the only ones cleaning ours to save money. Pool Cleaners make good money and don't work hard, as I saw first hand after moving in, as use to pay a pool cleaner.
1 person likes this
@DarthJustice (2014)
• United States
7 Aug 12
Reality shows are probably real...to an extent.
What I mean is with any reality show, probably the safe bet is to just assume that at least some of it is scripted and none of them are purely just whatever happens.
Like with Storage Wars which is one of the very few reality shows I do watch. These people who bid on storage lockers, this is what they actually do. But even they have admitted they don't win every locker they bid on (like the show would imply). Note that on the show, hardly anyone that isn't a "main character" ever bids on a locker. Even much more rarer is when they win.
@mrswhitfield (2044)
• Indonesia
6 Aug 12
Reality shows are not real on my opinion. My friend who work in TV as floor manager told me they even it's tagged as "reality" it is not as real as we see on TV, there many changes made to make their life story more interesting and can attract many audience.
@Sportseconomics (162)
• United States
5 Aug 12
To answer your last question, yes, they should be called something else besides "reality" shows, as they are really not an accurate representation of real life for an average person. While I dislike this fact with these shows, there's a reason for it: people want to watch it. Although documenting the life of an average person would be more realisitic, it just isn't going to bring the ratings in like the Kardashians will.
I think there's a few ways to improve these types of shows, though. With a show like Pawn Stars, for instance, I think they should stop doing those segments where they act as if a conflict has been created, and they are going to settle it in some way. If this type of situation actually happens, then include it in the show. But otherwise, don't bother, because we all know it's very scripted.
