It seems like whatever channel we turn to on the TV or when we open the homepage to Hulu and Netflix, reality TV shows have taken over our lives. This is nothing new. It’s 2015 and what people want to see are people like them, who are more dramatic, funny, daring, outgoing, etc. This craving to relate to one another seems to be intensifying, with reality shows of the more intimate nature like Dating Naked and Sex Sent Me to the ER, enticing viewers more than scripted TV. Why is that?
It could be our connection to the digital world. The constant need to be connected to each other online, to be in this space of constant entertainment and interaction, we then utilize reality TV as a way to feel as though we are connected with each other on a physical and emotional level. Beyond the space of virtual life.
Nothing seems to be off limits now, with issues like sex, dating, addiction, and drunken fights being the central focus of the plots. These controversial subjects have been topics of discussion for years on scripted shows, but what made them different were their ability to discreetly or pedagogically illustrate these topics to audiences in which we could learn something from it. Now reality shows have a desire to do this, but the presentation and the theatricality and at times camp nature in which it presents these topics make these shows seem like “trash TV”.
Although, scripted TV is making its comeback in many ways. From ABC dramas like Scandal, to AMC’s Mad Men, what has made these shows so revolutionary are not only its amazing production staff, but also the power in which it stands compared to the low-impact reality television shows of today. So, in ways, it adds value to what we may have taken for granted in the past.
Love it or hate it, reality TV means something to today’s world.
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