I am tired of reading articles that tell you that you should feel guilty for indulging in reality television. I'm also tired of people walking into the room while I'm watching Vanderpump Rules and stating that these people are "useless" or "shouldn't be on television." Do they deserve to be famous? Eh, probably not. Do they deserve to be paid as much as they are for the episodes they shoot and the appearances they make? Definitely not. I would love to live in a world where teachers are paid more than the Kardashians, and even the talented movie stars we all root for at the Oscar's, but unfortunately it doesn't seem like our society is changing any time soon.
Here are the reasons why I watch these shows: they live very different lives from me & I enjoy not having to use my brain for a little while each day. In our lives, our brain is constantly on overdrive, whether you're in school or at work all day long. For me, I have a little bit of both. At my job, I help college students increase their writing skills so that they can proceed through their schooling and future with success. So while I spend my days explaining how to use a comma to sometimes nine or ten different people (and about ten times per person) and then have to write my own papers and read 500+ page books that are hard to take in, I don't really crave a ton of brain activity at 10pm at night. My "nighttime brain" did its time when Lost was still on TV.
Another thing we need to keep in mind is that a lot of reality television is as scripted as your typical sitcom. When The Hills went off the air, many of the cast members were pretty quick to admit that most things we saw were fake. Fake relationships, fake situations, fake fights. Sometimes, I think these reality stars might be better actors than we give them credit for (but don't worry, I am still not giving them much credit at all). But I pose this question: why are we not meant to feel guilty when we watch Two and a Half Men, where Ashton Kutcher makes $700,000 per episode? Yes, he is "acting," but isn't that an exorbitant amount of money for one person to make because they memorized some lines and could interact believably with Jon Cryer? I suggest you ask this to your friend who has their Master's Degree and is currently an adjunct professor at a local college. See what they say about that rate of pay.
But I'm not here to argue about how much people should get paid or what makes something worth watching. All I'm saying is that we should be able to watch, read, and do whatever we want (besides, you know, murder, etc.) without being constantly judged by those around us. Just because I like to watch #RichKids of Beverly Hills on Sunday nights before a grueling week doesn't mean that my Master's Degree is suddenly going to be unattainable because I "lost all of my brain cells." In fact, it's probably helping my knowledge stay nice and cushioned rather than feeling overwhelmed with vital information I have to hold onto week to week (dammit, Lost, you really scarred me).
The only rule about enjoying television that I have is that you can't take it seriously. Not only is it actually far from real, but you should never aspire to be anyone that you see on television, whether that means Kim Kardashian or Olivia Pope from Scandal. Although both women have insanely good fashion taste. But either way, the drama is clearly too much to handle.
Another thing we need to keep in mind is that a lot of reality television is as scripted as your typical sitcom. When The Hills went off the air, many of the cast members were pretty quick to admit that most things we saw were fake. Fake relationships, fake situations, fake fights. Sometimes, I think these reality stars might be better actors than we give them credit for (but don't worry, I am still not giving them much credit at all). But I pose this question: why are we not meant to feel guilty when we watch Two and a Half Men, where Ashton Kutcher makes $700,000 per episode? Yes, he is "acting," but isn't that an exorbitant amount of money for one person to make because they memorized some lines and could interact believably with Jon Cryer? I suggest you ask this to your friend who has their Master's Degree and is currently an adjunct professor at a local college. See what they say about that rate of pay.
The only rule about enjoying television that I have is that you can't take it seriously. Not only is it actually far from real, but you should never aspire to be anyone that you see on television, whether that means Kim Kardashian or Olivia Pope from Scandal. Although both women have insanely good fashion taste. But either way, the drama is clearly too much to handle.
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