It’s eleven o’clock PM. You’re done with all the homework and dishes in the world and you’re sapped, you’re spent, you’re done for. Sleep? Nope. You, although on the brink of collapsing, are attracted to one thing: the TV. You flip through your choices: the news, Sesame Street, cooking pot pies, a reality TV show of people jumping off of buildings to win a million dollars. People jumping off of buildings to win a million dollars? That’s fun! So, you watch this “reality” TV show. Watching people jumping off of buildings can’t do you any harm, right? Wrong. Sure, the kind of show that they claim is reality is entertaining. But by reality TV, you are getting fed the idea that acting heinously is normal. Reality television shows endorse the negative aspects of life. Viewers should watch with extreme caution.


The characters of Jersey Shores end up clutching their bellies, sick and vomiting because they’re intoxicated so often (Croop, 2011). Mr. Kerpen, of a 2003 Fox show, was on television for 13 hours. Out of those 13 hours, he was intoxicated from alcohol for 4 (Fletcher, 2009). That’s not the end. Ms. Kozer, who was filmed for the show Joe Millionaire, was drunk practically 90 percent of the time she was on-air (Fletcher, 2009). Sadly, she had admitted to that herself.
All of these are examples of how reality television exposes viewers to alcoholic beverage after alcoholic beverage after alcoholic beverage, and eventually, the viewers, wanting to be like their reality TV idols, start drinking alcoholic beverage after alcoholic beverage after alcoholic beverage. These shows normalize over-excessive drinking (Parades, 2013), causing the audiences to get used to the overabundance of alcohol consumption in their own lives because they are exposed to it so much of it in the “reality” of “reality” TV. Once the audience is brainwashed into thinking that getting drunk is normal, they begin getting drunk themselves. Everyone, yes, everyone, is already getting affected by the consequences of drinking. We do not need reality television shows to increase the consumption of alcoholic beverages or the fallouts that result from getting drunk.



The creation of alcoholics is not the only reason why reality television causes more problems than solutions. Reality television frequently exposes viewers to underweight models, whom the audience looks up to for being, well, models (Malliaros, 2012). What the audience doesn’t know is that these super skinny supermodels end up developing anorexia nervosa, where they starve themselves to death just because they think that they’re not skinny enough (Murano, 2012).



For example, once upon a time, there was a girl. She was only 19, and she was beautiful, and, to top all of that off, she was a cover girl. Because this seems like the life of some fairy tale character, the audiences of reality television shows think that her life will end with a “happily ever after”. But that never happens. The world loved this little girl but this little girl did not love herself. Thinking that she was too fat to be beautiful, she starved herself, under anorexia, until she died of heart failure.


But the audience doesn’t know that part. The rusty gears in their head don’t turn. They just see anorexic models of reality TV, and become anorexic themselves so they can jump on the bandwagon of death.
Reality shows suggest the cultural idea, stated by Flanery (2004) of WebMD, “that if you’re not thin, you’re a failure and if things aren’t going right in your life, it’s because you’re not thin”. Out of reality television viewers, 72% have acknowledged the fact that they spend hours on their appearance- meaning that they spend hours staring at a mirror to see how skinny they are. (Meredith, 2011) Reality television is influencing the world to care more about your weight than how you act. They are overlooking all of your kindness, all of your selflessness, all of your ingenuity. All that is going in the trash . Now days, all people care about is how skinny you look.
Ridiculousness. But why are we judging others this way? Because of these three words: reality, television, and shows.


And still, in these engrossing yet cheap $7 per 10 days shows (Billen, 2008), we have the losers, and we have the winners. But these winners are no “good guy” protagonists. The second they’re off the camera, tragedy strikes. For example, out of the first season of Survivor, Richard Hatch arose as the champion. But, later on, he was imprisoned for failing to pay taxes on his winnings. (Goldberg, 2009) Out of VH1, Ryan Jenkins survived through two reality shows. But, later on, he allegedly murdered his wife and eventually hanged himself (Breuner, 2009).There’s a never ending pattern of immoral behavior in these reality TV shows. Most, if not all, of the contestants go too far. So, the audience gets subjected to a wide variety of recklessness. That’s all you can expect when producers are filming strangers competing to win fame and more fame.

An interviewer once asked Evan Marriott from Joe Millionaire "how it felt to be a pioneer of reality television, the person who started it all." And do you know what the star of Joe Millionaire said to this? “If I started this, I am absolutely embarrassed."(Breuner, 2009) For the main character to be ashamed, these reality shows must be pretty hideous. With their drunkards, underweight sticks, and villains, reality television shows influence their audiences to hurt both themselves and others. Although these shows do provide entertainment and cost a minimal amount, they are not worth the complications of the harmful actions that they bring up. You can either stay away from reality shows or you can turn on that television the second you step through your door and watch people compete to win a million dollars by jumping off of buildings. But here’s a fair warning: the second option, with people jumping off of buildings, might ruin your life. So pick the first. Don’t watch that reality television show. It’s better to be safe than sorry.