Does Reality Television Distort Reality?

Reality television is a situation where regular people are placed in unrealistic situations and settings and are manipulated, all this for the world to see. The reality television shows are created to give the viewer the perception that all the people that they see in their favorite shows everyday are regular and real people that are going through real situations in their lives. The cause of disagreement remains how all situations that are made to appear real affect their viewers and how the viewers end up perceiving life and social reality. It is evident that a connection is developed between the viewers, the shows, and their perceived reality. The more people watch these shows, the more they are exposed to real distortions of reality and the more their view of reality aligns itself with what they see on the shows.

The people who watch these reality shows view more the world they see in them as the real world than the world they actually live in. This creates in them mentalities of hope and ease in life that are untrue. Police dramas are not entirely reality as people are made to believe. The clips that they show on television are heavily edited. The footage that is used is actually real; however, the occurrences are not presented with clear and concise honesty as they actually took place. The editing takes place to control what makes it to be aired on television and to create the intended point of view and the intended effect on the viewers. For instance, a producer of a reality show shall always express their views. However, they shall do this while aligning them to the reality part of the show (Holmes & Jermyn, 2004).

Reality shows are meant to create certain pre-determined effects on their viewers. Fictional shows are wholly based on the script and heavy editing is done on them to deliver the correct aesthetics and to comply with the time limitations that are usually set on them. They express fully the ideas and thinking of their producers and their contents are fully fabricated. Another example would be what happens in the news broadcasting channels. The information that most of them deliver is meant to express their personal opinions and not the outright truth. This is mostly seen when information is offered in bits and pieces to depict what the news station wants the people to believe. Though they do not doctor it, they also do not provide full and wholesome information to give the viewer a chance to make their own conclusion (Murray & Ouellette, 2008).

Both types, the reality and the scripted, are therefore misleading since both types are created for offering entertainment and not concrete information. This gives the producers for both kinds of shows the express right to edit and mix the content of the shows as they see fit. Moreover, this behavior does not amount to the breaking of any law whatsoever. The result is the creation of a perfect kind of artwork that has its effect on the people carefully chosen. The effect of the shows is not known to increase the levels of crime. However, the violence exhibited on such programs can be channeled onto the viewers, especially young viewers. There have been however no credible research that can prove this theory (McMahon, 2005).

While people are watching reality shows and fictions shows alike, they should take the shows only for entertainment purposes and not rely on them to build their lifestyles. The children and the youth should most importantly be emphasized on the dangers of watching these shows and basing one’s life on them. Studies should also be created to cover reality television and its effects on its viewers together with what they call their reality. Though the researchers claim not to have found any link between the reality and fictional shows to their viewers, I believe that the shows present a great deal of influence to their viewers. This is because the shows create a parallel reality to the real one and the viewer is enslaved by it and gradually becomes more and more acquainted with the life that they see and not the one that they are actually living.

References

Holmes, S. & Jermyn, D. (2004). Understanding reality television. New York, NY: Routledge.

McMahon, P. (2005). Distorted Reality. Odessa, FL: Authorhouse.

Murray, S. & Ouellette, L. (2008). Reality TV: remaking television culture. New York, NY: NYU Press.