Reality TV shows - Bullying?

[UpoqvoSAMMIovpoqU]

Do reality TV shows accurately represent real life, or are they twisted by picky editing or completely faked from the beginning?

With shows like the X factor, Britain & America's got talent, do you find it uncomfortable to see the amount of people who seem slightly insane?

Are these individuals a misrepresentation of society? Or are we just being honest with people?

Is it morally right to laugh at people who have bad voices or act, or do we laugh "with" them because they understand?

Are we bullying these individuals by selecting them due to their vulnerability?

Or is it just a piece of fun that is perfectly harmless for kids?

Sammi

[MultiCanimefan]

We watch relationships fall apart on shows such as "Cheaters" and we consider it entertainment. It is sick and twisted, and we find enjoyment from it.

Reality TV is the farthest thing from reality.

[JustsTrollingAlong]

Has society really advanced that far from the days of Roman Amphitheaters? Or do people just like to pretend that they have?

[Korriken]

reality tv is part of the natural evolution of television. it all started with shows like the news shows where reporters would tell you the days events. eventually someone released a show based on entertaining people. then kids shows came around. eventually the producers decided they would try something controversial and released a show where a person has the gall to say "gosh darnit" then the spiral of competition began, as the language got cruder and more vulgar... the people loved it... either that or there was nothing else on so they tolerated it.

eventually tv companies began to realize that the bills they are paying the actors was rising and eventually became a crushing burden having to pay actors 6 digits + for each episode. Then some jackass came up with the idea of taking a bunch of contestants, putting them together, filming them, then offing them 1 by 1 and give a prize to the last dumbass standing. It was dubbed... reality TV.

[Stretchysumo]

But it all boils down to this; who really cares about others misfortune? We don't watch reality TV to watch people succeed, we watch reality shows to watch things fall apart, or laugh at others problems. People love this, and that's why these shows are produced.

[ReiperX]

You do realize that most reality tv shows are mostly fake right?

[poxpower]

At 10/10/09 06:33 AM, UpoqvoSAMMIovpoqU wrote:

With shows like the X factor, Britain & America's got talent, do you find it uncomfortable to see the amount of people who seem slightly insane?

You're only seeing a very small fraction of the total number of auditions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s _Got_Talent
Most of them don't even make it to the set of the show, let alone television.

At the end of the day, it's a tv show so they probably let a couple of crazies slip by. Who knows. I think if you want to sing for a living and your idea of getting there is auditioning in front of 3 assholes on live tv without ever having taken a single singing class, you're already out of your damn mind.

But it worked for William Hung somehow. Still better than rap.

Is it morally right to laugh at people who have bad voices or act,

Yes. Yes it is.
I laugh AT them. Then I feed on their crushed dreams.

Are we bullying these individuals by selecting them due to their vulnerability?

Definitely.

Or is it just a piece of fun that is perfectly harmless for kids?

What amazes me is that after like 5-6 years of this sort of thing PEOPLE STILL SHOW UP WHO HAVE 0 TRAINING IN THE THING THEY WANT TO DO FOR A LIVING.

That's just amazing. They're fans of the show yet haven't realized that 100% of the time, people who only sing at karaoke bars or do magic acts in front of their pets get humiliated on national tv.

So I would have said " at least kids learn a valuable lesson: don't be an idiot" but apparently nothing will keep these people from showing up in droves at those auditions.

Hopefully there's some sort of process in place to make sure they don't put people on there who have real medical mental issues.

[witeshark]

At 10/11/09 08:56 PM, ReiperX wrote: You do realize that most reality tv shows are mostly fake right? This is a correct post. Oh wait, we have to add Stupid! And maybe a spot of pointless!

[Shy2Authentik]

Reality TV is exaggerated incidents that don't really happen. It's starting to be the basis of what we think really goes on. It makes people believe cheating, fighting, and partying is happens a lot more frequent than it actually does. The sad part is, that it's all about views. Reality TV puts a high amount of paranoia in our heads instead of showing what's real.

[ThePretenders]

Reality TV is nothing more than a symptom of cultural decline. This generation has been bombarded with so much crap that they know more about 50 Cent than Mozart because him and his ilk are the defining moment of the 1990-2000s.

[TheShrike]

At 10/10/09 06:33 AM, UpoqvoSAMMIovpoqU wrote: Do reality TV shows accurately represent real life

No.

or are they twisted by picky editing or completely faked from the beginning?

All of the above.

Is it morally right to laugh at people who have bad voices or act, or do we laugh "with" them because they understand?

No.

Reality TV is crap. Just don't watch it. If you ignore it, if we all do, then it will go away.

[DarkComp]

Reminds me this morning I was up at like 4am and the only thing on besides infomercials was World's Strictest Parents and they had this girl sitting here doing 110 pushups and cussing that she wouldn't do them at the dude. And they had the other kid sitting there crying when he got a letter from his dad that he was cussing out and not paying attention to a few days before.

I mean if I wanted to watch shows similar to the SOAP channels for some reason I have SOAP N-E and West, I could have easily switched to that, That's what made me fall asleep.

[guyjeff4850]

The only thing worse than people who live their lives through reality tv is people who commicate primarily through texting on their cell phones. Actually, they're probably the same people!

[Warforger]

Reality shows suck ass, so ignore them, I mean seriously do we really need to watch TV to know how people in real life live there lives? Wouldn't you have no life to actually watch that?

[SevenSeize]

At 10/14/09 09:27 PM, TheShrike wrote:

Reality TV is crap. Just don't watch it. If you ignore it, if we all do, then it will go away.

^ this

I hate all of it. All my co workers are always talking about American Idol and Dancing with the stars....I have no idea how any of those shows work.

blagh

worst possible genre of television ever invtented

Remember in the 80s, how after midnight, on public TV channels, your screen would just go to the rainbow bars?

I'd prefer that to reality tv.

[SolInvictus]

At 10/11/09 08:56 PM, ReiperX wrote: You do realize that most reality tv shows are mostly fake right?

fake or edited to highlight the worst/most entertaining aspects of people. as far as the latter is concerned, it is kinda like bullying.

bullying people agreed to in exchange for money.

[D2Kvirus]

They're not so much bullying, more a vehicle for Simon Cowell/Alan Sugar to watch willing morons squirm for their own personal enjoyment, and they get paid to be complete twats to people.

If anything, Big Brother is bullying - not in the Jade Goody/racism sort of way, but the UK version constantly pokes and prods the contestants to get a reaction so the audience can laugh at them.

[DeIirium]

At 10/15/09 04:57 PM, D2Kvirus wrote:

If anything, Big Brother is bullying - not in the Jade Goody/racism sort of way, but the UK version constantly pokes and prods the contestants to get a reaction so the audience can laugh at them.

The idiots who go on those shows know what they are signing up for.. And theres a chance that they will get money in the end.

[Jon-86]

Damn Big Brother was originally based on an psychological experiment before they realised they could make money from the phone-lines and then it just when to the shits. Hell if I even considered it and managed to get on one of these show full of self-centred, attention seeking pseudo-manipulators. I would use that show at a platform for my sometimes despised political views.

Middle England would be shocked by my monarchy hating arse to no end lol, wonder how long I would last...

[RubberTrucky]

Idol brought forth Natalia, so it would be hypocrite to bash on reality tv.

[MyBallsDroppedAt7]

I think people should just start realizing that most of reality TV isn't real.

[Xavierthewarlord]

Do you know how much shit you have to sign to be on one of those shows?

Trust me, those people know what they're getting into. Go ahead and have a chuckle at their expense.