Mini Project #1 - Niki Ververelli

I’m not really convinced that we are all itching to be on a reality show these days. I feel as though that market is becoming so saturated with people wanting us to watch their “real lives”. I watch reality television and I know some people who have had the desire to be on a show or two. Even back when The Real World was cool I wanted to be on it, but now I think I am just overwhelmed with it all.

After talking to my friends and family, I’ve come to realize that reality television is not enough for us to escape from our usual lives. A compelling storyline beyond what reality TV can offer is what people want – something that allows us to leave our lives for 22 minutes and submerge ourselves in fiction. Even so, there are those that find reality television stars to be just as famous if not more famous than actors in scripted television shows.

The first person that I talked about this with was Christina. As you may or may not know, Christina is quite fanatical about reality television. Between I Love New York, Flavor of Love, Workout, the barrage of MTV reality varieties and more, her list could go on forever. The way that she and I associate characters on reality TV with our lives and how they weave their way into our conversations is rather comical. For example, Chance from I Love New York is probably the best way to prove this point. The way he speaks and his mannerisms have become an on going joke between the two of us. Knowing Christina and after talking to her, I think that she would appear on a reality show, more like something on the basis of America’s Next Top Model. The experience would have to come with a reward worth all of the troubles.

My next discussion about reality television was with my mom, Litsa. My mom is another fan of reality television, but not quite so fanatical. She made it quite clear that she would not participate in any reality show, but would definitely continue to watch them on TV. She thinks that everyone on these reality shows is basically under-medicated, under-counseled, and desperate… yet hilarious in some cases! (This is coming from a pharmacist who fills enough of a variety of prescriptions for the medicated public to know.)

Just for kicks, I had my last conversation about reality shows with my dad, John. I already knew that he is not all too thrilled with the amount of reality shows that are across the channel selection. He said he would not do a reality show no matter what prize was at the end of the series. He believes that the people who actually go through with being on a reality show are “a bunch of idiots”. My dad’s television viewing line-up includes a large amount of the Speed channel, other sports, CSI, and the occasional movie, but nothing that falls into the reality show category. He can’t quite grasp the fascination with the American obsession with watching the lives of others.

After all of these conversations, I’ve pretty much come up with the idea that it’s not that we are all itching to be on a reality show rather we are all desperately wanting to be the center of attention. Okay, maybe not all of us, but a very large majority. Basically, the desire to watch or want to participate in reality television is up to you and your personal opinion. But I have to say, I Love New York is pretty hilarious considering it's not entirely scripted... you can't script something that funny.