Oh, I'm sure I am missing out on being able to bond with the flock over who got voted off of American Idol or whether or not John and Kate will stay together for the sake of their 8 offspring. The choice to give up television was born out of my necessity to get through grad school requirements and teaching full-time without tempting my attention deficit self to get sucked into the abyss of reality television. I couldn't tell you who won any of the "competitive" reality shows for the last two years; but here's the thing: I DON'T CARE! I have chosen to live my own reality show and find interest in those around me. In the last year I have been on four continents, walked the Great Wall, and climbed Wayna Picchu seeing a view that changes how you look at the world. I have seen the flowers of Holland in full bloom, I have presented economic education workshops in China with a friend who participated in Tienanmen Square, I have danced and played with children in Peru who still smile despite the realities of their world.
For some the reality I have created is not as captivating as watching two morons who hit the fertility jackpot and got a show about it. As Americans, we act as if we don't want anyone to know our business. Yet, we are addicted to living vicariously through the "exploits of ordinary people" in manufactured situations that force them to be the ultimate "Survivor," become the "Biggest Loser," or even worse compete for the "Flava of Love." My students often try to keep me abreast on what Steve-O did the previous night even if I didn't ask. Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have been raised up as role models through their pseudo-real life. People constantly ask me if I "watched American Idol last night?" When I tell them no and without asking if I care they launch into some tirade of how this or that aspiring singer was screwed over and got voted off. Seriously? DID YOU NOT HEAR ME THE FIRST FIFTY TIMES I TOLD YOU I DON'T HAVE A TELEVISION? Okay, I confess I would love to be on the Amazing Race. But even that show angers me with how many of the contestants behaved towards the locals in whatever country they happened to be racing through.
Before there was television, there was still "reality" shows. They were called circus sideshows and regular people like you paid to see bearded ladies and elephant men. Before there was John and Kate with their medically manipulated miracles, there were the Dionne Quintuplets who were taken by the Canadian government and put on display in a zoo-like atmosphere for tourists to view. But the reality of it all is that we are still shocked when someone is beheaded by extremists or commits suicide on an internet website. Why are we so shocked? Is it because we feel revulsion that someone would undertake such a heinous act? Or do we feel guilt and complicity for these actions because we either watched the video or were tempted to watch? Will "Octo-mom" get her very own reality show? Pretty sure that deal has been inked already.
Before you watch the next train wreck, do me a favor and try to get interested in your own reality. Look for ways to make your life so interesting, even if it's just to you, that you don't need to live through others.
Fan.tas.tic.
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