By: HANNAH WALLACE, Editor
Reality television has become an integral part of American culture. We identify with the characters, and cross our fingers that the story-line will continue to go the direction we want it to. The formats vary from food shows to singing competitions to dancing competitions of all kinds, there is something for just about everyone to watch. Reality TV was started when Allen Funt created a program called “Candid Camera” in 1948, a show who’s hidden camera caught people in funny situations. Reality TV took off in popularity in the early 2000’s with shows like; “American Idol”, “Survivor”, and “Big Brother.”
The fact is, reality TV, is not reality at all. It is actually made up of Frankenbites. Frankenbites happen when the producers cut out something the person originally said and replace it with something that they want to make the show flow.
Another technique is called soft scripting. Soft scripting is telling the actors what you want them to do or say, without actually putting the words in their mouths,also a popular technique.
“No,[I don’t think reality TV is true and unscripted] I think that it’s ironic that it is called reality TV because so much of it seems unrealistic and staged,” English teacher Christina Montalto said.
There seems to be a “Real Housewives” of every county in the U.S, or at least half. The drama may seem a bit far-fetched at times; it is after all, completely scripted. They insult each other behind their backs and feud over seemingly inconsequential things.
The Kardashian family seems to spend most of their time creating new scandals and criticizing each other’s lives. Kris Humphries, Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband has come out with allegations that much of the show, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians is rigged and fake.
For example, in one episode Kim lost a diamond earring while frolicking on the beach and went hysterical. The earring was miraculously found by one of her sisters in the water. Humphries implied that the earring was actually never lost at all, the entire scene was planned.
If the rest of the show is as scripted as this one moment,then why call it Reality TV. It is not about their real lives and real dramas. It is a publicity stunt. Normal people with normal lives are probably happy with their lives which have considerably less drama in them, at least compared to the Kardashians. Another show is“Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. A child with an extremely exuberant personality and some attitude problems. When her 17 year old sister had a child that was born with six fingers, the main character, Alanna Thompson said; “I wish I had six fingers so I could eat more cheese balls”. In most homes these sort of behaviors would not be tolerated. Teen pregnancy and birth defects are not usually glorified to children.
Reality TV may be relatively harmless most of the time, as long as it is not taken too seriously.
“It depends [on what reality TV show] you are looking at, some are meant to make fun of society, and others, while scripted, are still trying to provide interest for someone else,” Montalto said.
The shows are scripted and are poor excuses for a life lesson. Little girls wearing revealing clothes and a pound of makeup on stage is not normal. People who are famous for hurting each other and gossiping is not okay. Life is unpredictable and it definitely is not scripted.