Which type of ‘Reality TV’ viewer are you?

Do you:
(a) Watch Reality TV and admit it, despite running the risk of being ostracised.
(b) Watch Reality TV but would rather die than let on that you do.
(c) Refuse to watch Reality TV even if your life were to depend on it.

If you’re type (a) An avid Reality TV watcher– keep watching the stuff. It is insightful and a true reflection of the world we live in today. If that proves too depressing, turn the TV off and recoil.

If you’re type (b) Reality TV non-watcher (but you really are) – Spill! You’ll feel much better for coming out of the TV closet. Your efforts of denial are only in vain– you’re the ones who unwittingly have the most opinion on Reality TV shows anyway.

If you’re type (c) Non-Reality TV watcher– respect. You must have very fulfilling lives, live in a bubble, or you don’t have Channel 4.

I’m type (a) but I will have to say there was a time when I’ve ticked all of the above. The general consensus is that those who watch Reality TV are considered to be one or all of the following: self-styled anthropologists, voyeurs, ex-soap fans disillusioned by storylines that have become so OTT we don’ t believe them anymore, dramatists, Chavs, junk food lovers, depressed, allies of underdogs, tele-vigilantes, people with sad lives– and so the list goes on.
These opinions may be accurate to some degree but there’s no escaping the fact that Reality TV shows are TV Gold and judging by their massive ratings, the phenomena is set to continue.

But don’t wrack yourselves with guilt too much. Reality entertainment didn’t start with us. Many moons ago, our ancestors clapped and cheered their way through spectacles of death in the Roman Coliseums. It doesn’t make it right. But it proves that human nature doesn’t change, it merely evolves.

Years ago, Gladiators fought to stay alive so they could win the crowd. Nowadays, a little bit of nobility and humbleness gets you the prize at the end of charity smokescreen shows like ‘Celebrity Big Brother’, and ‘I’m a Celebrity! Get Me Out of Here’ etc.

You could argue that anybody with a shred of dignity wouldn’t go on one of those shows in the first place. But just like at a June election, people are often left voting for what is the best of a bad lot.

So what kind of creature would willingly sacrifice themselves as live TV bait? Largely the deluded kind– those who’ve been damned with over-sized egos and of course there are the ‘freaks and clowns’ who just want to be accepted.

They’re all there. Politicians, ex-comedians, ex-nuns, transgenders, TV wannabes, TV has-beens, victims of school bullying (dangerously masquerading themselves as attention seekers) and basically anybody else who thinks money and fame will fill that terrible hole, called deep insecurity– which left unchecked mutates into severe self-obsession.

We’re all insecure at some level. Instead of seeking approval from the world and his mother on some reality show, do what the rest of us poor souls do. Buy a self-help book, go to counselling, work with people more disadvantaged than yourself, get a dog and/or have a baby.
Keep it real, folks.