Reality TV: Why the being you see on reality TV is not real, and more importantly why people are attracted to it?

Greetings readers,

Tis that busy time of the semester where being is frantic trying to get all sorts of stuff done and people get stressed due to the amount of things which need to get done. I'm sort of in that boat, so again I realize it's been a while but I'm back to posting and as a special treat you'll get a two-fer this week, one today and one tomorrow. :) Both posts will be sort of related but not at the same time, I'll let you all draw your own connections.

But speaking about being, tonight I want to talk about the crazy topic of reality TV. Why do we see this phenomenon in front of us and what draws people to reality TV? Also, is reality TV even comparable to "factical life experience"? (Heidegger) (P.S. For all readers, if one has not read Heidegger, I highly commend anything of his to your reading.) These questions are important because they examine human nature but also what is being portrayed as real. Reality TV also comes up this week because I heard rumor on Pardon the Interruption that Chad Ochocinco is going to star in a reality TV show where he dates 85 women and I was utterly confused as to why anyone would consider watching that show.

My own opinion is that reality TV exists because being itself can be painful for people a lot, and in response people want a release. Reality TV can do that in a variety of ways, either it projects people into a world so unlike, yet similar to their own that they can zone out to its aura, or they present a reality so awful and conflict ridden that people feel better about their own lives. Either way there is an appeal because it's real and unreal at the same time. Reality TV can either be as bizarre as "Survivor", or conflicted like "The Real World". Reality TV can do just about anything and is produced to do such so people can feel all sorts of emotions without leaving their living room. (or kitchen if you want to get a snack hmm :) )

People can feel a lot of emotions, good and bad. Bad emotions can stack up in people and cause people to become distressed with life. Even routine can become boring, monontous, and without purpose. This causes people pain because wants to be valued for their unique gifts, and want to life an exciting life. This can lead people to seek good emotions in whatever way possible, some healthy, and some not so healthy ways. An outlet which occurs is reality TV. Reality TV is a popular outlet because it requires so little work at all, but yet can give seemingly so many real emotions which seem to be real life.

But because it seems to be real does that mean it is real? There are many things which can appear real but aren't, like an image in a mirror or fruit juice which is not 100% juice. (Thanks Maggie!) The same thing can be said about reality TV. It looks real, it involves real people, but it is all staged situations and occasions which do not occur in being or are overexaggerated encounters with being. What they can teach us is about human nature, and how people respond in certain extreme situations? But it is easy to be engrossed by it because it presents so much loaded being in one small block of time that people are overburdened with reactions. This overburden draws people back for more and more of the TV, even though it isn't real or consistent with ordinary being. Since it's not ordinary being, it draws people in as well. No one wants to watch TV for ordinary being, so TV has to do something which is or seems out of the ordinary so people watch.

As long as one knows this, reality TV is not bad. However, it is dangerous when people take reality TV and try to incorporate ordinary being, or seek the experience of reality TV in ordinary being. So what does one do to prevent this? One must enjoy being itself and all its small pleasures. A smile of someone or a gentle hug are things which invigorate ordinary being with something special. To make being more enjoyable, one must find the things which she appreciates, especially the small things. When one can accomplish this, one can get more joy from ordinary being, which may include one not needing or desiring reality TV.

Aristocrates