Why Reality TV Does More Harm Than Good
Fox’s new reality-based TV series, Temptation Island, has been raising quite a few eyebrows lately, ranging from critics to average viewers. The premise of the reality TV show is fairly simple — Four couples go on a fantasy island in Belize and lay around in the white sand and postcard worthy light blue seas. They’re pampered with cocktails that have little umbrellas and are treated to high-end luxuries. Around them are hot and successful singles from the ages of 21–35 waiting to steal their partner. These couples get separated and taken on individual dates with others on the island, and un-shockingly many relationships already seem to not be as strong as they were before they agreed to this crazy fame-gaining experience.
While the idea of Temptation Island in general seems somewhat morally questionable, it is lost in the shuffle with thousands of different somewhat morally questionable reality TV shows already circulating in the mass media system. The Bachelor — a show where 1 man chooses between 20ish women- has ranked up 7.8 million viewers per episode from 8pm-11pm every Monday. Dance Moms — a series that featured the mothers of elementary aged girls competing with other moms — has reached 2.4 million viewers for their Season 4 premier. Jersey Shore reached 3.4 million viewers per episode, and TLC’s 90 Day Fiancé drew in 3.2 million viewers.
Reality TV’s sole purpose is to feed into the audiences’ guilty pleasures. They catch attention with their out-of-this world fights, and keep people attentive and wanting more by placing commercials strategically throughout each fight.
I am by no means against people watching reality TV to wind down. Myself, I am a huge 90 Day Fiancé and Keeping Up with The Kardashians fan. But I believe there’s a huge problem lying underneath the layers of fake perfect teeth and shiny tan ideal-bodies. Yes, those who are stable with themselves and their lives could potentially suffer no-harm by indulging, but what about teens? What about teens who believe they have structure and self-belonging nailed down, but in reality aren’t able to see what’s really going on and the hidden struggles they’re facing?
The cast along with the plots of these reality TV shows have huge live-in-the-moment lessons when regarding the daily life portrayed. They value the party life- and who wouldn’t when you live on the safe shores of a hot-spot beach or in a city filled with tall modern skyscrapers? But they don’t really have that ideal party life. They go home, sleep, have awkward encounters, wander around their houses, and eat impulsively like everyone else. But teens don’t see that. Yes, they may get the concept, but they may not truly understand. In comparison, an average teens life in a nice suburban neighborhood seems a lot less exciting and eventful than a party in a high-end villa with booze and brawls. Reality TV shows cause people to glorify the party-life, and lead those who are impressionable on a path heading towards dangerous scenarios.
When someone makes their life solely on focused on party with that “You only live once don’t be boring” mantra going in their head, problems are bound to arise. Just like they would with a over-focused workaholic. It’s even more toxic when that someone is constantly going through brand new challenges and experiences as they grow up, such as teens. Teenagers are more likely to take part in underage drinking, in vaping, and in risky self-destructive habits due to the constant media thats surrounding in everyday life. It’s not that teens don’t know that these things are wrong, it could be that they are simply subconsciously aspiring to become and indulge in what these shows are portraying as “the fun way to live life.”
“Study hard, but party harder.” — Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi
Along with potentially affecting viewers life-outlook, reality TV shows also have been proven to have very damaging effects on an average watchers self-esteem and self-worth. For both genders, and especially to teenagers. When comparing all of the body shapes throughout the most popular reality TV shows, each cast member seems to fit a mold. The girls are slim with small waists and big breasts, with “about 69% of them having low body fat and close to half [having] medium to large bust sizes” . The men on shows are especially lean as well, “with 74% having low body fat…. [and] with 66% having what is now called the V-shaped body type.”
A PDF report from the Parents Television Council (2011) had shockingly discovered that “Using the most watched reality programming among 12 to 17 year olds to examine variations in language based on gender, the data revealed that across all shows only 24% of what females said about themselves was positive.” (10)
It’s not just a women’s issue too — in the same report, it was calculated that 46.5% of all dialogue on an episode of The Jersey Shore was disparaging comments about someone or someone’s own person.
Looking at these reports, it’s very clear that is plainly not healthy for an individual growing up to be exposed on a regular basis to these shows. While, yes, sheltering people is a whole topic on its own, it should be considered that people should not subject themselves to vulgar television content to become unsheltered.
As a society that is already heavily dealing with extremely high depression rates and body disorder related mental illnesses rates, should we really continue to allow all of these different forms of entertainment affect our population to this extent? To allow these shows to be this prominent and this idolized in our communities? Based on the evidence, it seems that our society as a whole should think a little harder about the affects before switching on the newest finale of The Bachelor.
SOURCES :
Parents Television Counsel, http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/MTV-RealityStudy/MTVRealityStudy_Dec11.pdf Accessed 20 Mar. 2019.
“Snooki’s Advice To Rutgers Students: ‘Study Hard, But Party Harder’.” https://www.nj.com/news/2011/03/snookis_advice_to_rutgers_stud.html 2011. Accessed 20 Mar. 2019.
Flynn, Mark. “Reality TV And Body Image: The Not So Real World — Behavioral Scientist.” http://thepsychreport.com/science/reality-tv-and-body-image-the-not-so-real-world/ , Behavioral Scientist, 2015, Accessed 20 Mar, 2019
