The recent suicide of a husband on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills compels the ethical question: Are reality TV shows morally responsible for the emotional havoc they inflict on families, sometimes resulting in something as drastic as a suicide?
Probably. My wife, who watches these shows, explained how they work: The producers find pressure points in relationships and exaggerate them to create drama so that these exploited emotional fissures take a life of their own becoming a juggernaut that takes over and consumes the people involved.
In other words, there's your regular self and your TV self. The TV self becomes a monster and eats your real self for lunch.
My wife told me we will never go on a reality show even though she thinks I have certain eccentricities that would make for "good TV." And the money would be nice to send the girls to college. But in the end, agreeing to make a reality show be making a deal with the devil.
Jeff: I agree with just about everything in this post. However, I DO believe it's possible to reap the rewards of a reality TV show without having your marriage fail or killing yourself. Like anything else, I think certain buttons are going to be pushed----but what happens next will depend on the people in the situation. It's not quite a deal with the devil, because you can still control your own destiny. It's like exposure to violent movies, bullying, etc.: Some people will claim these things "pushed them over the edge" but I say they were closer to the edge than the average person to begin with. Yes, it's risky---but if a producer wanted a reality show about a watch and radio collector with a blog, his lovely wife and new twins----I'd listen to what they have to say!
Posted by: Angelo | September 01, 2011 at 05:49 AM
Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451. Here we go...
Posted by: Chris | September 01, 2011 at 11:09 PM