Reality Television: Not What it Used to Be

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beginning of reality television. One thing many wonder and some already believe is how real “Reality” television is currently. According to McCraley in a survey of students at BGSU 61.5% of people said they did not think “Reality based shows” depicted real life accurately and 35.3 said they somewhat did. This shows that the majority of people do not think that it is realistic. The producers pick out the people and usually they end up having an equal number of men and women as well as at least one minority and one homosexual (“Reality TV”). They choose people who will cause a sensation but also look for conflict (“Reality TV”). The producers want to create story lines that the audiences wants to see so they use the footage they get to create story lines of conflict and sex since those seem to work the best (“Reality TV”). Although there is the reality of people being chosen from an everyday group of people the rest is basically not true reality. Many people could probably agree that people act differently when they are being filmed as well. There is always going to be people who put on an act to make the audience like them. That takes even more of the reality out of it.
By calling it reality television yet having various people not acting like that really would and then having the footage chosen to set a certain story makes those watching, especially young children, think that’s how people truly act. When they figure that is how people act they start acting like that as well.
Just as Tyson states, “It’s like junk food: we love it and we know it’s bad for us, but we─and our children─watch anyways.” Although many people know how bad of an influence it is for them and their children they still continue to watch because t...

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...ray/media/Realitytv.html>.
McCraley, Kelly. " Reality Television- Survivor and the Others." Reality Television. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 May 2014. .
McGee, Monica. " A Brief History of Reality Television." Reality Television. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 May 2014. .
McKay, Hollie. "Experts: Reality shows featuring fighting females harmful to the young girls who watch them." . N.p., 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 8 May 2014. .
Tyson, Zakeia. "The Negative Influence of Reality TV on Teenage Girls." The Opportunity Agenda. N.p., 2 May 2012. Web. 8 May 2014. .

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