Show Us Your Shame Show
Everyone has at least one — a television show that you love to watch, but would die of shame if anyone found out you did. Your “shame show”. So, I decided to question why we are so ashamed to admit we watch such shows religiously, in secret and denial. Does our choice of television program reveal something about our intellect or personality that we’d prefer others did not know?
Every day after I return home from a long day of classes or work, I switch on the TV to scour channels for the ideal program to help me wind down. Even before the Foxtel menu loads, I am hoping that the likes of Keeping up with the Kardashians, Sex and the City or Real Housewives of Wherever (because I’m not choosy) will appear.
Hold the phone! Did I just admit that I watch these shows on an online forum for everyone to see? That’s embarrassing!
Enter, the concept of the “Shame Show”.
A shame show, in the Bridie Dictionary, refers to any program you would have a hard time admitting to (or would begrudgingly admit to if forced in a terrible game of truth or dare) watch on a regular to semi-regular basis. The television shows that I named all have a large, cult following, with the likes of The Real Housewives series’ reaching into the millions in the US alone, and achieving similar degrees of success in Australia, recently warranting the release of a second season. The shows attract multitude of viewers, and yet what does not add up, is that I can barely count on one hand the number of people I know who would freely admit to watching, or more embarrassingly admit to enjoy watching these programs.
So here’s my theory, and it is undoubtedly a fairly basic one. There seems to be a stigma surrounding programs that express pure entertainment sentiments, rather than benefiting us educationally. These television shows are recognised broadly as ‘bad’ for us, because of their lack of educational value, and their ability to render us as relatively static viewers. Reality television programs in particular, were thought of poorly in one study, with participants slandering these programs due to a perceived lack of intellectualism in those who consume them. My elementary theory is demonstrated regularly in my own home. If I am caught binge-watching the latest Real Housewives of New York episodes by my Uncle, I’ll receive an immediate scolding along the lines of “that sh*t will rot your mind Bridie”, urging me to fumble and change channels to the news as if that’s what I really meant to flick to all along. Ha, silly me, my mistake.
The thought that I could inadvertently become one of those loud, and obnoxious women from The Real Housewives by simply watching this show seems a legitimate concern for my Uncle, just as being embarrassed about people knowing I watch this show is a legitimate concern for me. Our separate concerns are seemingly intertwined, stemming from the same, unfounded moral panic that as an educated person, consuming entertainment programs is essentially bad for your mind, and something you should be embarrassed of. My Uncle (and my own) knee-jerk reaction to these programs springs from the perceived negative effects of media on the mind, which likens television content to a hypodermic needle that has the ability to directly encourage undesirable actions. Considering this further, Pieser and Peter explain “like media effects, media use is subject to value judgments, with many forms of media use being regarded as negative, the basic condition for third-person perception”. My Uncle exemplifies the “third-person perception” perfectly in regards to media use, believing “others are more susceptible to media influences” than he is himself. Thus, rather than by any proof of these type of programs negatively influencing viewers, or that viewers of these programs are of a lower educational standing, members of society make judgments based purely on a “perception” that being entertained will grind down your intelligence.
Reaching this point in my blog entry, I realise just how ridiculous I am to be embarrassed about watching these programs, having studied media effects since the start of my media and communications degree, and acknowledging that a correlation between consumption and actions rarely exists. Thus, this week’s blog post has been one almighty justification for why we all should be able to freely admit we watch what others deem as “crappy” programming. I mean, I’m not gradually becoming one of The Real Housewives each time I watch the show, any more than I’m becoming a banana each time I eat one.
So let your freak flag fly. Be brave. Show your shame show.
