Reality TV

      Face it, no one's life is really that interesting. Although reality t.v. shows may suggest otherwise, the fact of the matter is that we all do practically the same thing everyday: go to school or work, eat, do homework, and sleep. The reality of reality t.v. is that our lives are so boring that we need a weekly fix of drama-filled shows like Bad Girls Club and Love and Hip-Hop. But seriously, who enjoys getting punched in the face? Hopefully no one. But everyone loves to watch someone else get punched in the face.

      At one point in time I actually thought reality t.v. was real. I mean of course I understood that some people acted differently in front of the camera, but nonetheless, I thought all of the drama and everything was real. However, a couple years ago, I was on the show Wife Swap with my friend Michaela. The producers of the show simply wanted a few shots of her hanging out with some friends, but nothing was natural; almost all of it felt staged. We went out to eat, but before we could go into the restaurant we had to "meet up" outside and hug and everything like we never got to see Michaela. When we were leaving the restaurant, we had to keep repositioning ourselves so that producers could refilm the shot until it was what they wanted. The entire story line that the producers made up about her family was a complete over exaggeration. They made it seem like Michaela was a slave to her parents and never got to see the light of day... But that's what interests viewers. No one would have cared if she was just the typical teenager. We could tune into our own lives to see that!

      My point is that although reality t.v. is, in fact, not real, we are constantly drawn to it because it offers us an escape from our own boring lives. Honestly, I haven't missed a single episode of Love and Hip-Hop this season. I absolutely HATE having drama in my personal life, but I love to watch it from a distance and shake my head at how big of an ass these people on t.v. are making of themselves. But I have to ask myself, if I couldn't get my fix of drama from t.v. shows, would I create it on my own? The answer is yes. Sometimes I catch myself arguing with my boyfriend over trivial things like him breathing out while I'm breathing in and me breathing in his carbon dioxide. I know, it sounds crazy, but I do. All I'm saying is that even though we know they're fake, reality shows keep viewers watching because we subconsciously wish we had some excitement like that in our own lives.