Reality TV...The New Disease

On my way home from a wonderful week long vacation with the girls (Sadie & Josie) out in Palm Desert, I was listening to talk radio where the topic of discussion was about reality TV shows. Sadie and I got off on our own discussion into the "phenomenon" that is reality TV, and how it has imbedded itself into the American psyche like a flesh eating parasite, paralyzing our intellect and luring a large portion of our society into a cesspool of nonsensical retardation.

The conclusion that I came to in our discussion was that some of these shows(specifically the ones that revolve around families like "John & Kate Plus 8", "Meet the Kardashians", etc.) are doing way more harm than good...both to the people who are on these shows and the avid viewers who can't seem to get enough of watching these idiots sell themselves to the devil for their 15 minutes of fame. -Danny Tangent Insert / Except in the information and digital age, 15 minutes has become more like 5-10 years or even longer. And why? Because today there are actually television programs (TMZ, Access Hollywood, Extra, The Insider, etc.) and/or websites that are dedicated to following these people for no other reason than to let us know how fucked up their lives are years after they starred on their own reality show. / End of Tangent- Anyway, back to what I was saying. What these reality shows are doing to our society is allowing avid viewers and fans to consume and feed off of the serious dysfunction of others. Meanwhile, distracting themselves from dealing with their very own dysfunctional issues...and in time, perpetuating a massive communication failure that leads to a higher rate of divorce, severe depression, suicidal tendencies and a whole slew of negative trends and psychological disorders that will continue to infect our already volatile society.

I recently found myself watching this "John & Kate Plus 8" show, and I have to tell you...John & Kate are fucking idiots. I can't candy coat it or say it any more simple than that. They are repugnant sycophants and should be ashamed of the way that they have gone about this whole Reality TV thing. Not once, has any of this mockery of parenting been about those poor, innocent kids. I get that it would be difficult to go from having 2 kids to 8 kids overnight... and that the story of that might be intriguing to some. But do you have to make a television program out of it? A program that just signed on for another season? I mean, we get it. You have 8 kids and its difficult to run a household with 8 kids all under the age of 10. One ninety minute documentary would have been enough. But this show goes waaaaay beyond the topic of having 8 children and steers its direction towards the personality disorders(and the drama that comes with them) of the two parents. The metamorphosis of this "Kate" woman from a pasty white, chubby, somewhere in Middle-America, ragged house mom of 8 kids..... to a tanned, skinny, punky haired, breast augmented, "Co-Co Chanel" sun glass wearing, Joan Crawford-esque Mommy Dearest Ice Witch...(I can just picture her saying to her kids, "NO WIRE HANGERS!!!")...just proves that it has never been about the kids and was always about her. And you knew it was only a matter of time before the pressures of fame and Kate's constant pitiful complaining and badgering would force John (husband) into an affair with another woman, just so he could feel like a normal guy again. But now this poor shlub can't even set one foot outside his house without a crew of paparazzi following him to end of the earth if need be, to see when he will screw up next. And so publications like US Weekly and all the other shit that's out there for society to consume and devour in an effort to escape from their own problems, continues to expose people like John & Kate, or The Kardashians, or all the past winners and/or runners-up from "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette", etc.

It truly has become society's new drug....and the media is the drug pusher. They know that the product is morally corrupt, completely uninspiring, and complete mindless nonsense. But what was once a small market of a few, has now turned into a mega-market of the idiotic majority demanding to read, hear and see more celebrities fall hard on their face....and when that isn't enough or becomes too bland, the media just starts plugging in everyday "Joe's & Jane's" to feed the fix of a fiendish society who gets their kicks from watching the exploitation and demise of their fellow citizens.

Rome is burning my friends... And this is but one of hundreds of rapidly expanding and evolving diseases that cripples the mind and slowly desensitizes us to the point of having no compassion for anyone or anything. I cannot watch these shows for any extended period of time because of the extreme disdain I have for the product and it's players, which always rises up inside me and makes me want to take a baseball bat to these people's face. It is such a waste of time, space and life.

We need to get back to good old fashioned confrontation with one another, whether it is good or bad. There are too many avenues made available to us, allowing us to escape when we refuse to deal with our own issues head on. But watching other people suffer and trying to relate to them and their issues through a media portal does not help me with my problems and it sure as hell doesn't stimulate my intellect. So I'm hoping at some point in the future there will be a time when we as a society get over the infatuation of voyeurism, and fall back on the ultimate stimulant....direct human interaction.

Just a random thought that I had in my head today. Feel free to share your thoughts on this subject.
-Danny Z.