The Reality of Reality

I found myself plonked in front of the television AGAIN last night and remote in hand I mindlessly channel surfed. How come when I only had 5 channels to chose from back in the good old days, there was more worth watching than now, when we have 500+ channels? All it really says is, either I am very picky, which if you know me at all and have read my posts you will know is not true, or, the majority of TV is shit! I vote for the latter! The guide was filled with mostly reality shows and you will not believe some of the names...

• "Pit Boss" about a midget mafia type who rescues Pit Bulls  from the streets of LA which are apparently over run with the blighters, who knew?
• "Sister Wives", about a Mormon polygamist, his 3, soon to be 4 wives and his 13 children
• "Kate Plus 8", about an opiniated celebrity hungry Mum and her immaculately groomed sextuplets and bratty twin girls.
• "Hoarding, Buried Alive", about desperately troubled people who fill there houses with crap to the point where their house is uninhabitable.
• "Quints By Surprise", about a Texan couple and their 5 identically ugly kids
• "Little People, Big World", about a midget family and their struggles in everyday life

Then it struck me, all these programmes are about excess. Too many unloved dogs, too many wives, too many kids, too much stuff, too much shortness! (I know, but it's my blog, I don't have to be PC!)

And too many bloody reality shows!


I suppose the whole point I am getting at here is that we are obsessed with the excesses of life. And we want to hear about people whose lives take them to the extremes. Why? does it make us feel better to know that other people have got it tougher than us, worse than us? I am not sure! I think people are fascinating. I think anything where you can watch someone else's life unfold and know that yours isn't to that extreme in any way what so ever makes you feel so much better! I know I have watched, for example, the hoarding show and gone "Thank Christ I am not living in that house". Or sat aghast at "The Biggest Loser" counting my lucky stars that I have not let myself fall into the morbidly obese category like Dave or Judy or Butch! Think about "Big Brother". Do I have to? you ask. It's not about what they do it is about the extremes of personality that keeps the audience glued. I know we have all sat there squinting at the screen, mouth open, shaking our heads, thinking what the hell is this, a transvestite, semi-pro boxer with 6 toes, a degree in banking, 17 piercings and a penchant for toy poodles! So glad she's not anyone in my family!

People are brilliantly entertaining I suppose and real life TV is so much more, well, real!

Personally I am all for escapism. I want to see the beautiful, perfectly formed people with the great jobs and the perfect relationships. I am a fantasist. I live the real life everyday and I want to be taken into wonderful land of glitz and glamour when I sit down midweek and turn on the box.

So, get rid of reality I say.

Well... maybe not the polygamy show! This I have to see!