Media has a huge influence on society and the people in it. But out of all the mediums of media out there, I would have to say that Television has the most direct correlation in shaping the ideology of American culture.
From it's humble beginnings of family friendly and education shows to the graphic depictions of sex and violence we now see even on cable stations, television has become America's guilty pleasure. And our guiltiest pleasure yet is the invasion of Reality TV. Seeing people who were once "normal" people catapulted into stardom for doing absolutely...get this...NOTHING, has the public in a delusional mindset. Now that anyone can be a star for doing nothing, millions of people rationalize that they too could be famous for the very same thing. Never before has television affected the ideals and dreams of an entire society in this magnitude, and in such a dis-heartning way. "So many kids today believe they have an inalienable right to be famous. Kids used to say, 'I want to be a designer, or an athlete or a writer.' Now they just say they want to be famous."-newsobserver.com How country has been shaped throughout the last sixty-plus decades by the images and people we see portrayed on TV. How will our society be affected by this obsession? Who will be our leaders and educated professionals twenty years down the road in a society who dreams of it's 15 minutes of fame?
According to a piece from The Museum of Broadcast Communications, "...the public often assumes that television fictional representations of the family have a strong impact on actual families in America. For this reason people have often also assumed that these fictional households ought to mirror not simply family life in general, but their own personal values regarding it. " This statement has held it's truth throughout the entirety of television.
The ideal of American culture fifty to sixty years was one of hard work and family. Hard work equalled provision for one's family, and in return, that was how "success" was measured; Quality of life, not quantity. Family was the most important entity in one's life. In the 1950's and 1960's, television was becoming more popular in homes across the country, and families tuned in to such shows as The Andy Griffith Show and The Beverly Hillbillies. These shows, while comical, focused on the institution of family and every character followed a moral compass. The values of family, selflessness, hard work and honesty were all deep-seed throughout the lines of slapstick and satire. And in the 1950's families did function very similar to the families they saw on TV.
With the 70's came a new wave of television shows. They were now all in color, making them seem even more "real" to watch. It brought us The Dukes of Hazard, The Partridge Family, the Brady Bunch and Happy Days; many of the classic shows that have became a family name. The humor got more satirical and the clothing and actions a bit more racy, which in turn was reflected in the American public. We as viewers developed this mind-set that if it was on television, than it was okay. We still think that today, wether we'd like to acknowledge it or not. But family, honesty, and hard work were still staples on television and in the home.
Then came the 1980's and the 90's. These were my childhood years. I remember watching sitcoms such as Growing Pains and The Cosby Show. I felt like I grew up with these fictional characters, and for many of us, we could relate to the comedic situations that Mike Seaver or Rudy Huxtable always seemed to get themselves into. As cable television expanded and became such a huge part of everyday life, we saw more controversial topics brought up in dialogue and we found many of of favorite characters in compromising situations, but like any feel-good sitcom, the show always ended on a happy-point. The supporting characters, i.e. friends or family always come through in the end to help out in the last few moments. This taught us that everything is going to be alright. That as long as we have friends and family, we could make it through anything. In reality, that may not always be the case, but these shows gave us hope. They encouraged and up-lifted us, as viewers.
Then in 1992, MTV Debut the Real World. This was our first glimpse into the everyday lives of 6 strangers living together in a house, and how they interacted with each other. People became to love to watch it, but the demographic was that of 13 to 25 years old who would be watching MTV anyway. As the years went on, there were other reality shows that were interesting, but really never became what the Reality shows of the last decade have become. Over the last 10 years, reality shows have become a phenomenon. There are reality shows based on talent such as America Idol, Project Runway, and Design Star. These shows have given fame to "average" Americans who would otherwise live fairly modest lifestyles. These shows have ingrained the "New American Dream" into the heads of all the hard-working folks out there. "If only I could make it on 'whatever' reality show, I could become famous and not have to struggle for years trying to make a name for myself, it will just happen for me." The idea of these shows is unique in the respects that talented folks who would indeed work for years to build up their name or business and still maybe never achieve the success they want, can have all their dreams come true the moment their mug is appears on that show. The negative side of this is that for the people in these trades who have poured all their blood, sweat, and tears into their craft and have yet to make it to a place where they want to be professionally, see these young, inexperienced contestants become mega celebs overnight. It seems unwarranted and against what our idea of America was 50 years prior.
We all dream big, and in America anything is still possible, but the means to which we acheive those dreams has become askew.
Besides the talent based reality television shows, there have popped up a ton of dating-type reality shows. These all vary from different genders to different celebs, but the main premise is that dozens of people are all trying to "win" so to speak 1 individual. These shows are absurd. Who in their right mind would ever think, "I am going to fall in love with this person who is also dating 20 other people!" Isn't that cheating? No, that's right, it's just good ole reality TV for you! The bachelor franchise is the one that rings so clearly in my mind. How is it that one guy could think he could find his wife while dating dozens of girls at once? One minute he has his tongue down one girl mouth and two hours later, he is staying the night in a room with another girl. This is disgusting! If it weren't on TV, I highly doubt any of these women would be okay dating some guy knowing darn well that he is dating and getting very physical with any of girl, let alone dozens. It is making women and men alike de-value women even more. They are a prize to be won, not a human being to be cherished. Love is no longer something sacred, but rather lust is the driving force in our relationships, and expressed for purely entertainment purposes, not because you want to share an intimate moment with someone you love deeply. What are we teaching our daughters and sons?
The Real Housewives franchise introduced us to a whole new breed of reality show.The idea of the show is to follow these wealthy house-wives around town and see how the other half live. This experiment went wrong! These middle-aged "cougars" as many of them call themselves, are living like twenty-somethings. As you can almost track scientifically, but somewhere between the 1st and 2nd seasons, they start to let the newfound money and fame get to their botox-injected heads, and start behaving even more selfishly than many of them had already been behaving. We see them getting skinnier as the seasons pass, more plastic looking, behaving more materially. And for many of them, it has cost them their marriage and family. It is "The Curse of Reality TV." So many people who seemed so great together, end up in divorce after appearing on these shows. Is there a correlation? The most tragic of all, is that these women's' lifestyles have become so coveted by our society, that many non-reality star housewives themselves have been spending beyond their means to keep up with the "Real Housewives Ladies" or even sacrificing their marriages in hopes of finding a more lavish lifestyle or richer husband. And who gets hurt the most in these situations, the children. They are being taught to trade-up themselves and that if things get too tough, to give up, and that true beauty is fake. Their generation will dream of money, beauty, and fame; vanity, all vanity!
As seem in these two links below from the Real Housewives of OC, the daughters of one of the stars are drunk with their parents and gone all hours of the night and what are the repercussions? Nothing. The one daughter even says she'd like to be disciplined, but never is. What 17 year old who say this? One that is crying out for attention, but is being ignore because her mother is too busy trying to ride her cash cow to the bank.
The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 5 - Going Through the Motions of Parenting - Video - Bravo TV Official Site
The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 5 - Underage Drinking - Video - Bravo TV Official Site
And lastly we get to the most atrocious of all reality shows...the teen and young-adult-based reality TV shows. Shows like The Hills, Laguna Beach, Teen Mom, Jersey Shore, and 16 and Pregnant. From a marketing stand-point, a large chunk of your demographic are viewers 13 to 25, so why not have shows with people in that age-group.
The problem is that these young teens and adults are having their lives glamorized and thus, all the young people watching these shows wants the life they see portrayed on the screen. The Teen mom and 16 and Pregnant aren't producing these A-list celebs like The Hills and Jersey Shore are, but they are definitely glamorizing fairly unglamorous situations in young girls' lives. "I guess it's cool to get pregnant in high school because those girls on MTV did it and they turned out fine." No it is not ok! I am so pro-life, and if you do get pregnant, then I totally support having that baby, but here's a novel idea; don't have sex! You are a baby yourself. Children, although blessings, are also such work and the end of your young life. No more parties or football games for you. It really urks me that their are shows out their promoting young mothers.
The Jersey Shore and The Hills are probably the most popular of this style of reality TV shows. The American viewing public has become obsessed to say the least with these young party animals who galavant around town, dancing, drinking, and causing drama. Oh and did I mention they get paid millions of dollars a year to do it? Do they have any sort of craft or trade? No. Do they compete for this money? No. What do they do then to earn such an outlandish wage? Nothing at all. And in this lies the reason that so many young people want to be the next Lauren Conrad, or Snooki. A person can make millions of dollars a year for just going out to eat, and shopping all the time, and going out to clubs every night. You never have to step foot into a real job if you didn't want to and you can branch out into singing, designing, or whatever else your heart desires, and make a killing it it too, even if you don't have the talent to do so, just because of who you are Who wouldn't want that lifestyle?
So what is to become of reality TV? Americans have gotten a taste of it, and can't help themselves in our gluttony. I myself have seen my fair share of these same shows that I know are ridiculous representations of society as a whole. That being said, I think it will be around for years to come, and we will only see the envelope being pushed even more in respects of who and what will see unfold. I guess our only hope for our children is to instill the morals and values that we have within ourselves, and hope that we raise them right. Teach them the value of hard work, education, humanity and caring. Teach them that the American dream can still be one of hard work and perseverance. The value of a job well done, and also monitor what they are watching, because everything looks so glamorous on TV. And if they do watch reality television, use it as a guide for "What not to do and how not to behave!"
No comments:
Post a Comment