First Writing Assignment for WRD 110

The Reality of Reality Television: How it impacts me andsociety

Reality T.V. is the modern day "opium of thepeople". We try to imitate the characters we see by dressing how theydress, talking how they talk, and even by dealing with personal issues how wethink they would. We look to Reality T.V. for answers and guidance. RealityT.V. even dictates how we feel and how we think or act. Why? Is it because wefind answers to the problems we face today in Reality T.V. or is it because weseek the exciting lives lived on Reality T.V. so we try to act the part? Ithink it is both. In today’s society most kids do not want to talk to theirparents about their problems, they rather go to Reality T.V. where they canrelate to people similar to them for answers. People today see the excitinglives of the people on Reality T.V. so we begin to see their behaviors imitatedon a huge scale causing a moral decline in today’s society. When people look toReality T.V. they see extremes that normally do not occur in everyday life thatis because the producers and directors of the show want it to be as interestingas possible. So when you apply what is seen on these shows to everyday life you’reessentially applying social extremes which over time become the norm and leadto further deterioration of our society. Take a look at "JerseyShore" for example, after the first season you could not go a day in theaverage high school without saying "she was so DTF" or "my onenight stand last night was a grenade". Before "Jersey Shore" Icould not even get my best friend to tell me what him and his girlfriend of twoyears did the other night and after I could get explicit details about lastnight from the guy sitting right next to me. Now Reality T.V. has never reallyimpacted me, I find it to be trashy but I’ve never judged anyone for liking itor even acting like some of the popular characters. Society on the other handis in Reality T.V.'s choke hold and there is no sign of it letting go. Societyseems to embrace Reality T.V. for its excitement and for its shock appeal.There is no benefit to Reality T.V. for me or society.