Reality shows

By Laia Esquerrà

Are other people’s lives so interesting that TV programmes should be made about them? The answer is obviously yes. We all have this curiosity in us – some more and some less but we all do – and, as almost always, on TV the most eccentric person wins. These programmes are not actually very interesting but they capture our attention. We can sit there watching absolutely nothing and still not change the channel. We can get sick about it but somehow there's nothing better on. So, the question would be: WHY? Why are other people’s lives more interesting than ours? What do they have that we don't?

My answer: NOTHING. Reality shows are just a distraction. Most people do not want to accept their mistakes and their bad luck so other people’s miseries are the best remedy. First, people watch them on TV but after that they want to be there and shout at them, too. That's very shameful and immoral.

Reality shows seem to constitute a very wide-ranging TV genre because they are divided into many different subgenres: survival shows, arts shows, celebrities, modelling, sports, job search, self-improvement/renovation, hidden cameras, competition... but they are all the same.

Reality shows are about fighting with other people, the reason does not matter. Everyone who gets on them does it to become famous. Everyone wants to be a celebrity. What does that show about the society we live in? All the moral values and rights our relatives fought for now seem to be of no value to us – we are throwing them all away. We are a heavily controlled society that craves for money and exhibitionism.

I think we're losing our values and the taste for good programmes and films, and that is a shame.