There is a lot of reality TV on right now. I guess it's the big thing. My opinion is that it got its start during the writer's strike and producers realized that they saved a bunch not having scripts written. But I digress.
Reality TV is basically home movies shared with the masses.
Take TLC's Toddlers and Tiaras. It follows little girls through the pageant circuit. Some have 'stage mothers' and some are just drama queens. Of course, the show displays all the temper tantrums and meltdowns. What I can't help but think is that in 15 years, those little girls will be grown up and mortified of the behaviors on display. Won't they?
Just like the Jon & Kate Plus Eight family will always be exposed to their father's infidelity and their parents divorce because it played out in the media. Those kids will be faced with adults who watched them 'grow up' on TV. It's like their home movies viewed by millions of people. I can imagine the future conversations, "Oh hey, you're that Gosling kid! One of the sextuplets. Were you the one who..."
I have some embarrassing home movies. When they are viewed, my brothers and sisters laugh like crazy. But we're not showing the world my awkward moments. We're showing them to family. I can't envision a time when it would be okay for that film to be shared with strangers, or people who don't love me.
I understand that these reality shows pay big money. I'm sure that some of these families are tied to the productions just because of the paycheck. But there is a cost to having your family drama play out on TV. Some outsider is judging your behavior. Some interloper is criticizing your parenting skills. Someone is mocking your little princess.
Some day these kids will be in high school and I guarantee you that their nemesis will find the DVDs and use these shows to make them miserable. When these kids grow up, what will they think of their parents' decision to play out their childhood on TV?
--Sandee Wagner
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2 comments:
Ugh -- I'm with you. Some things are just meant to be private. I think reality TV is the worst thing to happen to television. It's one thing for adults to decide to bare all, but those poor kids who don't get a say . . . I feel sorry for them.
You know we all agree, but how many people are voting with their remote controls? The vast majority of people disgusted with the exploitation and base pandering of reality t.v. are enabling the model to succeed by failing to take their eyes away from the train wreck.
How is it that 'drama' became entertainment? Isn't 'drama' just us tagging along in the intimate, intense, or painful emotion lives of other people? Is there a line between empathy and voyeurism that we can locate and protect? If we can't define the line I think the only protection these kids will find is the relative ambiguity of being one exploited kid of thousands coming out of this process.
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