Reality TV's Negative Affect on Our Society - Research Paper Example

Reality TV Negative Effects to Society The increased uptake of technology has meant that people are now able to access mass media which is readily available in the form of mostly television, radio, newspapers and internet amongst other forms of mass media. The mass media was initially used mostly for education purposes but has increasingly been used for entertainment purposes by those who watch or read them. More recently, a form of entertainment has cropped up in the name of reality television programs where the audience is entertained and their mind synchronized that what they hear or see is real. Reality TV programs are usually choreographed to create an illusion that celebrates the dysfunctional and distasteful behavior in the society and the viewers end up seeing different concepts of the world. The more people watch these programs, the more they have a distorted view of reality as presented by the real world as they desire to have similar experience as that of the reality television program (Jerslev 162). In short, reality TV shows have been more popular over time as they show common people who consent to film their lives on a daily basis without a scripted format or dialogues. This paper seeks to discuss how these reality television programs have contributed negatively to the society especially in terms of decay of the morals and values held high by the society. There is now evidence and agreement that reality TV is often inaccurate and untrue in that it is highly edited and people react according to either how the creators of these programs intend them to react emotionally or psychologically (Edwards 7). Other research have also shown that watching reality TV and believing its content as the absolute truth can be stark dangerous as what the programs simply do is to shape the thoughts and values of the viewers along the lines of the show (O'Guinn and Shrum 274). For example, a reality TV show may involve a competition that forces a character to act in a manner that is not his usual self and in most cases this character is of poor behavior as he would usually be. The reality of the matter in reality TV contests is that it makes the audience insensitive to the normal human nature as it makes normal behavior that would otherwise be derided by normal and right-thinking members of the society (Miller 93). In some instances, it may make the viewer or the audiences revel at such negative attributes and vices such as pain, sex, and injuries to the cast, which in real sense the viewer should not. The end-result is the cast is rewarded for poor personal, societal or professional judgment. Since the advent of reality TV programming, critics have rightly described as a genre that is sensational and focusing on an emphasis on the negative aspects of the society. Hill (7) states that such articles such as ‘Ragbag of Cheap Thrills’, ‘TV’s Theatre of Cruelty’ or ‘Danger: Reality TV can Rot Your Brain’ describe how there is a negative connotation associated with reality TV. Further Nick Clarke argues in The Shadow of a Nation that reality TV has led to the erosion of the values hitherto held by the society as well as distracting the ideals of a modern society. For example scenes of addiction to drugs and war in reality television programs have the potential effect of eroding the culture held by the society as well as its moral values (Hill 7). Other programs such as Real Housewives of Atlanta and Basketball Wives that show violent confrontations between women tend to make young ladies copy them with the thoughts that such behavior is desirable. In the analysis of the reality TV program ‘Extreme Makeover’, the negative aspect of the society is portrayed as the show suggests that the American society is constantly in trouble to find or live in a decent home showing how a contemporaneous socio-political tension or situation. The crisis that the cast in the program face is at times used to hoodwink the electorate who vote in leaders who can promise better housing (Edwards 6). Studies also show that the human opinion are formed and shaped by what they hear, see or written on the media, which greatly changes the perception the members of the society. For example, some reality TV programs have shown that suffering is a spectacle worth emulating. These also include shows that promote the image of people that have questionable ethical choices such as the show ‘16 and Pregnant’ which idolizes abortion and the show by Kim Kardashian that promotes the distribution of pornographic material and videos. This shows that most teenage girls ape what they see on television and how the women are portrayed and their modes of consumption that in most instances is in negative light (Taddeo 186). Scholars therefore argue that such shows have a negative impact on the society as they make the viewers insensitive on matters such as human suffering and the ability to gain knowledge on normal human behaviour. This negative effect also includes making of wrong choices amongst the cast who act without personal insight into their lives. Similarly, research by Burns in the work ‘How Social Media Foster Our Fascination With Popular Culture’, shows that reality TV shows celebrate negative culture such as cruelty, behavior that is self-destructive or show exhibitionism. Therefore shows such as Survivor is not about the ability of human beings to survive in extreme circumstances they face, but how fellow contestants are able to scheme through selfishness and betrayal in order to survive in a competition. In the show The Surreal Life, which depicts the lives of recovering alcoholics just shows how human beings can do anything to remain relevant and live a productive life even when there is no more to live for (Burns 123). Also, Staub in his analysis of “The Real Story Behind the Real Housewife of New Jersey” shows the materialistic nature the society can get into by showing how many women desire to have the best in life even in going to extents of attaining them through whatever means (Staub 165). He explains further that some people would rather stay in a marriage due to the material wealth it can afford one (Staub 167). In conclusion, reality television shows have constantly portrayed a distasteful and dysfunctional behavior in the form of entertainment and people get easily manipulated and end up applying the same behavior in the society. The negative influence of reality television programs is that they allow a person or the viewer to follow what has been determined for him by someone else as reality. The producers of reality TV programs also fail to consider ethics when producing these programs, as they tend to exploit the misfortune of others such as divorce and teenage pregnancy all in the name of entertainment. From the foregoing argument, research has proven that reality television programs just warp the viewer’s perception of reality and their belief. This is the reason for example why viewers or members of the society who view the world as filled with drama and relational strife are addicted to reality programs, for example the regular viewers of drama on crime are likely to engage in crime. In addition, the society has been affected in a major way and in a negative way by the reality programs as members of the society do not wish to learn how to accomplish a rigorous or desirable feat but demand to achieve it through controversy and idiocy. The end result is a society built on negative values and morals that greatly affect the productivity and meaningful co-existence. This calls for a consideration of the need to have these reality television programs and a comparison whether they add any value to the life of any member of the society. However, despite the little positives that may come from reality television programs, and they remain what they are; a negative influence to the society as a whole. Works ited Burns, Kelli. Celeb 2.0: How Social Media Foster Our Fascination with Popular Culture. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger/ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print Edwards, Leigh H. The Triumph of Reality Tv: The Revolution in American Television. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2013. Print. Hill, Annette. Reality Tv: Audiences and Popular Factual Television. London: Routledge, 2005. Print. Jerslev, Anne. Realism and "reality" in Film and Media. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, University of Copenhagen, 2002. Print. Miller, Alison R. F. Cultural Values, Narratives and Myth in Reality Television. , 2007. Print. O'Guinn, T C, and L J. Shrum. "The Role of Television in the Construction of Consumer Reality." Sage Library in Business and Management. 4 (2006): 234. Print. Staub, Danielle. The Naked Truth: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewife of New Jersey:In Her Own Words.New york, NY,USA: Simon and Schuster Publisher Inc., 2010. Taddeo, Julie Anne; Dvorak, Ken; Carmichael, Deborah A. Film and History : Tube Has Spoken : Reality TV and History.Lexington, KY, USA: University Press of Kentucky, 2010. Read More