The brilliant CBS correspondent Morley Safer once said, “reality TV is sleazy, it is manipulative. It is as momentary as anything in popular culture.”
I agree. To me, reality shows are total junk. They cast light on people who don’t deserve such fame.
Some shows are worse than others. These three are the ones that the producers must pull the plug on now in order to keep societal sanity from going extinct.
1. The Bachelor/Bachelorette
From the time of their inceptions, have received enormous criticism for falsely creating human relationships. I mean, out of the 24 couples that have won since the first season, just five are still together in the present day. So then why has nobody abolished these ill-fated dating shows? They’ve each claimed spots on TV for over a decade. Many of the participants have gone on to become A-listers, sporting too many UsWeekly covers. Whatever happened to real, actual dating?
2. 19 Kids and Counting
Everything on this TLC series is like a sugarcoated, fluffy donut. The Duggars make themselves out to seem like this happy, Christian family. This is misconstrued. I’m not going to preach my political views here, but it’s obvious that this family is extremely far right Conservative. They consider birth control to be sinful, dictate gender roles and believe that overpopulation is a myth. In addition, while onscreen it seems like the family members never fight, I’m skeptical of the editing going on. No family is as peaceful as the Duggars are portrayed, especially with a clan of that size. Like look at the Kardashians. They have just six kids and a home environment that could qualify as World War III. Therefore, 19 Kids and Counting show must be cancelled, unless there’s an episode where Jim Bob and Michelle get into a screaming match.
3. Toddlers and Tiaras
I’m not super original for my complaints about this show; I just need to let off some steam. Seeing these little girls walk across a stage in absurdly expensive dresses and gallons of makeup, I almost burst into tears. I have a cousin around this age. She wears princess dresses, but they’re maybe $30 and if she smears chocolate on them, nobody will hurt her. MedlinePlus defines child abuse as “doing something that results in harm or risk of harm.” How is this not a representation of such abuse? If forcing false teeth into a crying seven-year-old’s bloody gums is not harmful, what is?
It would be nice if all reality shows could just pack their bags and exit the public view. I know that’s never going to happen, but these three should at least give it a try.
They’re the ultimate embarrassment to this nation.
