Mini One, Andrew Damiter

Apologies for being late. I meant to post before I left for work on Sunday morning but completely forgot about it until well after.

Reality television is pointless and not based in reality. Actually, it's a really fun way to look into the lives of normal, everyday people. On third thought, it's just a game show in fancy packaging. Or it's none of the above, depending on who you talk to.

I've never been a fan of reality television, as I could never shake that feeling that there was someone pulling strings behind the scenes, influencing what I was seeing in ways that I would not approve of were I to know the truth. Like the American version of “Who's Line is it Anyway?”, certain things always felt a bit too scripted. Nevertheless, I pushed my personal feelings to the side and decided to gather reactions from a few people close to me.

As I can always count on my roommate to give me true, from-the-heart answers, I turned to him first. Of course I had to feed him alcohol to get him to open up, but he's never lied to me while he's been under the influence before so I trusted the information he gave me. Five Yuengling's later and he was ready to open up. I asked him, quite simply, what he thought of reality television.

“It's not based in reality,” he said surprisingly coherently. “I'm not sure if there really is a script or not, but I'd like to believe there's an element of spontaneity or else the acting is really just bad.” “What do you think people get out of reality TV?” I asked him. “Things like Big Brother are a voyeuristic escape I suppose,” he said, “but most of them are just like game shows.”

Having soaked in that angle I decided to move on to a coworker of mine. I work weekends at an EBGames retail outlet, and an associate of mine was working his last day. We tended to bust out into random conversation so I felt a lazy Sunday was as good a time as any. I asked him what he thought of reality television and, if given the chance, if he'd ever agree to appear on a reality show.

“If they paid enough, sure,” he said. An acceptable response considering our wages and the fact that his wife was expecting a child soon, but I asked him to put that part aside. “I don't really like reality television, but I watch a lot of it anyway because I love seeing people make fools of themselves,” he said. Probing further, I asked why he thought that was. “People being stupid is funny,” he said. Fair enough.

For my last stop I decided to turn to my mother, who I knew was obsessed with Trading Spaces, a home design show on the Discovery Channel. When she wasn't watching CSI reruns she was most certainly watching this. While at home for a brief visit I sat down with her while an episode was on and asked her quite bluntly why she enjoyed the show.

“Because it's fun to see people get excited,” she said. For reference, my mother runs a daycare center that caters to children up to the age of seven and eight. When children are happy they are calm and not disruptive, which leads me to believe she just likes seeing people happy in general. I asked her if she'd ever consider being on the show. “Yeah, it might be fun,” she said. “I'd like to see what would happen.” As for what she thought of the people that did appear on the show, she said, “They're just looking to spice things up a bit. I don't see anything wrong with that.”

Perceptions of reality television vary greatly. It's a love it or hate it situation, and even a lot of the haters tune in simply to fuel their hate. Whether it's malicious voyeuristic intent or genuine jubilation, people tune in or are at least aware of reality television for a number of reasons. One thing that is undeniable is that, whether they watch it or not, people are keenly aware of the existence of reality television and most certainly have an opinion on the contestants. Whether it's good or bad is anyone's guess.