Fantasy vs Reality on TV

Can blindly continued fear induced regurgitated life-denying
Tradition be overcome?

— Alanis Morissette (These R The Thoughts)

This is one of those days when my muse is asleep. So far anyway. Actually, what happened was that I had a great idea as I drifted off to sleep last night. Now, what’s the point of that?! OK, wait, I think I remember something. I had an interesting conversation with Sportsboy the other day about watching television. I wanted to make sure he could tell fantasy from reality as he shows interest in watching more adult themed tv shows (such as CSI). Then last night I watched what is my truly waste-of-time-guilty-pleasure show of the year – A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila <blush>!! I blame MusicMan for this trash. During his stay in the hospital his only source of entertainment was the tv and he had it on MTV quite a bit watching re-runs of America’s Top Model. There, we saw commercials for this show and in our growing boredom, it started to look interesting. So, I set it up to record each week. Now, I am hooked. As horrible as it is, I really MUST know who gets kicked off each week!! Anyhow, going to bed after watching that drivel, I started thinking about reality vs fantasy on tv. Now, there is a whole genre in tv these days called “reality tv”. The thing is, it is as far away from reality as anything you would find!! While not traditionally scripted and staged as a sitcom or drama would be, well, it really is scripted and contrived!! The people in these shows are put into contrived situations that are designed to cause conflict and drama in order to entertain. There is nothing real about any of these situations! That got me back to thinking about the very sorry state of the media these days. How news shows are 100% about entertainment now. Hence the rise of shows like The Daily Show making fun of said ‘news’ programs. At some point when the major networks decided that news divisions should turn a profit, the basic premise of these programs changed drastically and not for the public good either. So Reality shows are not real, and the news is really entertainment driven. So then, where IS the reality on tv? Now, I can argue that sports is probably the closest you can find. Yes, there are charges of individuals using illegal substances and referees on the take and gambling influencing events, BUT, I think by and large when you tune in to watch sports, you really are seeing the events unfold as they happen. No spin, no scripting, just chance and skill making things happen. (yes, I am excluding wresting from this people!!) Of course, even sports is tinged by the pursuit of the almighty dollar, but along the way I think it is the closest to a ‘reality’ show that you can find right now. Just something to be aware of before you turn on the tv and dive into fantasyland :->