Drawing the line between television and reality
A closer look into our modern world’s dependence on the unrealistic expectations of the media and why we need to hit the reverse button.
Ever since my initial introduction to television I developed a fascination for the way that you can transport yourself to another place, whether it is another dimension, or an animated parallel to our own world. I loved the idea of such creativity being a part of my daily life. Nowadays, it is a major focal point of daily life for many Americans, and as many as 95% include TV watching as part of their leisure time, according to an article written by Rebecca Lake. As television begins to evolve, so do its contents. The varieties of reality television have expanded and have developed a tradition into falling within these three chief categories: contests, “structured reality” shows, and the documentary-soap.
Living in an age where television has such a massive impact on the way we view not just ourselves, but our lives, where can we draw the line between fantasy and reality? Where do our lives stand? Nowadays we as a society are so comfortable painting our reality with things that don’t actually make up what we’re about. Television and movies become an escape for us, but sometimes so much so that it can trick our brains into believing that what we saw on the screen is real or can lead us to mimic our own lives after it. Dr. Brad Gorham of Syracuse University had this to say “All TV shows, not just reality shows, help construct scenarios that demonstrate how some behaviors will be rewarded or punished,” Gorham said. “The concern is that frequent viewers of these shows will learn these behaviors, see them as desirable and then model them in the actual real world.” A dependence on television weakens our sense of self and can also have a drastic effect on our self esteem. The building up of scenarios in our head only goes to prove that there is a cause for concern of behavioral effects linked with what we see on our screens. This is an important topic because as technology begins to take over our lives, this phenomenon will only grow more powerful.
Research shows that there is a link between television and how we begin to live our lives. In this Daily Herald article a 13-year-old girl discusses the impact that the television show Jersey Shore has had on her “I don’t think Snooki has inspired me to do anything,” said the 13-year-old, laughing and referencing one of the show’s stars. “I don’t take is so seriously.”
I spoke with millennial Boris Sharapov and asked for his thoughts and understanding of television and movies tarnishing our sense of reality, “I think that we are very much a culture that thrives on selfishness. We like to see characters or television personalities that remind us of our selves, so we begin to think that someday our lives can be just like what we see on the screen. It’s pretty sickening when you think about it.”
According to an article heard on NPR’s All Things Considered “It turns out those who had watched Jersey Shore or Real Housewives actually gave louder, longer blasts after watching those shows than those who watched the more violent crime dramas.” I spoke with California State University Northridge’s very own Charles Hatifield on the effects of television and our perception of reality and he had this to say, “of course something as powerful as television can change the course of our mind’s because it begins to play off of what we are feeding it.”
I feel as though we need to learn to control how much we let technology run our lives. As a society we need to monitor how much television and movie intake we get because things can easily get out of hand. Media is the most powerful tool of our day and age and it’s important to remember that there are consequences that come along with it.
“Today’s generation didn’t want to watch ancient actors reciting the same tired lines. They wanted to see themselves reflected onscreen –rude, raw, entitled. These kids needed to believe that they themselves were only one daring, controversial act away from being up on that screen themselves. ” -Melissa Peltier
