Reality TV: Leave Me Alone, I Can Watch If I Want To
I know what you’re thinking.What kind of person watches all of these pointless reality television shows, reads all of the Hollywood gossip magazines, and keeps shows like The Jersey Shore and The Bachelor on primetime television season after season? Who would listen to what Perez Hilton has to say about Britney Spears’ new outfit?
Ooooh! PICK ME! I would! Look, I know it’s ridiculous. But a healthy dose of mindless, pointless, thoughtless television never hurt anyone. It doesn’t mean I am unaware of issues of national and international importance. It doesn’t keep me from going to CNN.com or picking up a copy of the Wall Street Journal in the morning. But you have to admit, there’s a reason why these types of media are catching on like wildfire. They’re entertaining. Stop hating and let your inner Snookie out.
A presentation in class summarized the obvious counterpoint. If this is the trend, where does it end? What does this mean for our children? Will news become too much fluff with not enough investigative, political, and economic content? Will Lindsay Lohan’s 20th drug relapse take the place of vital road closings or electoral results? Are we getting ‘stupider’ as a society at large?
Personally, I don’t think so. Responsibility falls into the hands of our school systems and onto the parents. The internet is always going to exist. Our children are always going to have access to nonsense and tabloids. But I would argue that there also will always be useful information at our disposal. It’s up to you to determine which you go after, and where you point the people around you.
The conclusion:
As long as the front page of the newspaper remains real news…
As long as there is one real story for every fluff piece…
As long as local news never dies…
As long as our children know the difference between US Weekly and The New York Times…
As long as libraries remain…
AND
As long as we know that The Real World is not the real world, I’m not concerned. I’ll be on the couch watching American Idol and reading The Enquirer if you need me.
