Real or not real? That is the question.

Article: Reality TV gets dose of reality
Category: Entertainment
Source: The New Paper, 25 Aug 2007

Article Transcript:

They can be rude, crude and controversial.
These are what keep viewers returning to their TV sets week after week.
But reality TV shows' very success may eventually be their downfall.
Yesterday, China said it has banned TV shows abotu cosmetic surgery and sex changes.
Meanwhile, a report by an Australian media regulator has called for a ban on reality TV shows that present participants in a highly demeaning manner.
In the UK, Channel 4 has decided to stop airing its highly-rated - and highly-controversial - Celebrity Big Brother from next year.
China's watchdog singled out Guangdong show A Date With Beauty, which aired plastic surgery live. The series was said to be "bloody" and "vulgar".
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (Sarft) said on its website that it had banned "shows about cosmetic surgery, sex changes that involve public participation".
Guangdong TV was accused of violating the privacy of participants by airing operations such as breast implants and liposuction.
Earlier this month, Sarft banned Chongqing Braodcasting Group's talent show, The First Time I Was Touched. The watchdog called the show coarse and lacking in artistic standards.
One episode had a contestant staging a bizarre gift-giving stunt, obtaining a ring from one judge and giving it to another, then calling the second judge "stupid".
In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) called for a ban following a notorious incident on Ten Network's Big Brother programme last year.
Two male contestants were thrown off last July after footage appeared one of them apparently rubbing his crotch in a female contestant's face. While the scene was not shown on TV, it was streamed live on the Big Brother website.
The Acma report recommends that changes be made to the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice that "prohibits the broadcast of material presenting participants in reality television in a highly demeaning or exploitative manner."
Britain's Celebrity Big Brother will be axed next year as part of Channel 4's major programme shake-up, reported Guardian. The programme drew a record 54,000 complaints from viewers after at the allegedly racist bullying of Indian housemate Shilpa Shetty.

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Response:
One of the most interesting yet controversial concepts that has ever been brought to the world of the goggle-box, reality television is, safe to say, one of the biggest hits in the world today. It started off with reality game shows like Survivor, but in almost no time at all has developed into a wild variety of shows that have both stunned and pleased the general public. Guangdong show "A Date With Beauty", which airs patients' plastic surgeries live, is a prime example of this. People all around the world have always questioned the validity of reality tv and with so many of these ridiculous new shows appearing everyday, the problem is only getting worse.

Reality TV today seems to sacrifice quality for quantity; so many shows are produced daily, yet most of them are really not very appealing. In fact, even boring reality TV shows are becoming rarer by the day, for the latest shows seem to be more of a tick-off than anything else; frankly I would rather watch soap opera than see people go through the vomit-inducing process of plastic surgery.

Yet, are these "crackdowns" by reality TV watchdogs really the best way to settle the problem? Even if the shows are starting to get more controversial by the day, it is termed "reality" tv for a reason isn't it? If authorities are going to ban whatever they feel is "too inappropriate to be screened on television", or whatever they think can have a "negative influence" on the general public, what is going to differentiate Reality TV from the common drama sequels we see on TV?

Indeed, mindless shows that are controversial for the sake of being controversial should be taken action against, but what makes reality TV so special is the added level of meaning that they have in comparison with drama sequels; "Happily ever after" stories never teach us anything that we can truly apply to real-life scenarios. I as a teenager may not be mature enough to understand the true seriousness of the issue, and may not have watched enough programmes to know exactly how ridiculous reality tv is getting these days, but I am strongly of the opinion that instead of restricting the screening of these shows, we should instead work towards educating people about the right and wrong things they should take away from the programmes.

Reality TV opens our eyes, hearts and minds to the world around us, making us realise how small the little "world" we live in really is, thus imposing strict restrictions on it would really defeat its entire purpose. Granted, some of the content in these shows many not exactly be "good" for the public, but at the very end of the day, shouldn't we be rational enough to differentiate between right and wrong, and decide (for ourselves) what lessons we choose to take away from whatever we see on tv? Kids, one might then argue, will not be rational enough to differentiate right and wrong. Well, what are parents for?

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