Alissa Harris - Mini Project #1

I know that I’m not particularly itching to go on a reality show at any point in the near future – although I did try out for VH1’s ‘World Series of Pop Culture’ game show and my team was accepted, but there was a problem with the casting directors. I think that people who appear on most of the reality shows, like The Real World, Flavor Of Love, and any sort of dating show, are quite sad and obviously seeking attention. The shows rarely cast people in a positive light, instead showing off their worst characteristics (bitchiness, backstabbing, sluttiness) to create on-screen drama for the best possible ratings. However, that’s just my own personal opinion, so I thought I’d ask a couple of my friends their opinions on reality shows and the people who go on them.

I asked my friend Jackie last night about appearing on a reality show. She said that she’d willingly apply to go on her favorite show, The Real World, because thinks that it would be fun and chance to do nothing but party and get paid for it. She said that a lot of people on these sorts of shows are shallow, self-centered, and relentlessly fame-seeking, and although she doesn’t view herself that way, she’d still want to go on a reality show just to have the experience. She’s not exactly ‘itching’ to appear on such a show, but if the chance was offered to her, she’d take it and see where it would lead her.

I spoke to my roommate April about such a topic as well, and she viewed reality show stars as true celebrities, not unlike A-list movie stars. She tends to watch a lot of reality TV in her free time – I’d know, as I’m forced to sit through most of it while studying – and she talks about a lot of the people on the shows as if they’re big-time celebrities. She’s obsessed with New York from the shows ‘Flavor of Love’ and ‘I Love New York’, and she always talks about how she’s so feisty and she’d love to be like her. I have no idea why she thinks this, as I think New York’s pretty offensive and not the sort of person I’d ever want to model my life after. April would love to appear on any sort of reality show, and she said that she’d especially love to go on one of the dating shows on MTV so that she could get on TV just by dating “some loser.” She thinks that everyone secretly wants to go on such a show, even though they all don’t admit it.

Finally, I spoke with my friend Stephanie about the whole reality show topic, and her opinions were the complete opposite of April’s. She detests reality shows and rarely watches TV at all and thinks that the people who go on such shows are deplorable. She thinks that they’re “bratty bitches who crave attention” and “dumb guys who can’t succeed in everyday life” and would never go on such a show, even if paid substantial amounts of money. She wonders why people go on reality TV shows in the first place and says that anyone in their right mind would never be ‘itching’ to go on a show like that.

In conclusion, you can see that reality TV shows and the people on them can divide popular opinion. It seems like you either love ‘em or hate ‘em – meaning you’d want to go on one or you’d want to stay as far away as possible from a casting agent – and it’s all a matter of personal opinion.