Fall is back to school time and, of course, back to TV time with a slew of Fall Premieres coming our way. Recently I was flicking through the channels (yes, I do watch TV despite all my droning on about its evils) and I came upon a reality TV show where Americans demonstrate their various talents in order to vie for the chance to perform in Las Vegas. This got me thinking about TV with its ever-present messages for today's youth, and how this might impact their ideas about relationships, careers, and success in general. Does reality TV represent healthy, acceptable adult relationships? Do modern-day children's plans for the future consistent of being the next Apprentice or Design Star or America's Top Model? Does reality TV really portray the new American dream? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then I am very afraid! And while I pose these questions in a mocking, sarcastic manner, there is a part of me that fears that some kiddos out there just might wholeheartedly answer YES and mean it!
Children already have difficulty discerning reality from fantasy on television and this becomes more complicated when considering programs that are referred to as reality TV. Of course as adults we understand (I hope) that reality TV is still TV and the goal of television shows is to attract viewers; thus, things are scripted, edited, and certain actors are selected just like with any other program. The danger is that people, especially children, may actually believe what they are seeing is reality. If children start to believe the things shown on reality TV are typical and acceptable, what might happen to their expectations about adulthood? As one blogger put it, "Nothing promotes capitalism and the quest for wealth more then being inundated by so called normal people on reality TV that have exotic cars, eat chef cooked food and have beautiful homes. Not to mention the beautiful people that go with that kind of lifestyle...So in that respect reality TV popularity is creating a generation of greedy people..."
And I would say greed is just the tip of the iceberg. Reality TV's messages include several gems that I'm sure we all want our children to internalize such as (1) how you look is more important than your mind, work ethic, morality, _______ (insert almost anything here); (2) the key to succeeding in America is luck so forget about education and hard work; (3) the secret to happiness and fulfillment is (of course) stuff, stuff, and more stuff. I could go on and on about this and actually as I'm putting these messages into words I'm realizing that these are the messages of many television programs, not just reality TV. I guess I feel so perturbed by it because it is labeled reality TV and it's just so far from reality that it is absurd!
I find it even more disturbing that recently reality programs aimed specifically at children have begun to come onto the scene. For example, last year CBS premiered the controversial Kid Nation, a reality TV show where 40 kids lived for 40 days in an abandoned town with no adults. Their task was to create their own society. Complaints about Kid Nation ranged from alleged violations of child labor laws to charges of child endangerment. No, not the endangerment of your child and the ideas about alcohol consumption s/he will gain from watching scenes where kids throw back shots of rootbeer in a saloon, actual, real-live endangerment of the children that were on the show.
Let me tell you what I find even more disturbing - when I can't decipher whether or not a show is designed for children because the content is so inappropriate and yet simultaneously appears to be aimed at a child audience. So this particular show is on Cartoon Network (a channel for children, last time I checked), is about kids (generally an indicator that it is for kids), and is written about on websites aimed at kids (I don't know many adults that frequent kidzworld.com). I'm referring to Total Drama Island (TDI).
Listen to this disturbing (I apologize for the repeated use of disturbing; it's really the most fitting word) description of some of the characters from kidzworld.com:
· Heather - Heather enjoys talking about her popularity or her appearance, Heather joined TDI because she believed that it would provide highly adequate training for carrying out her long term goal of ruling Europe and she intends to win the competition via dirty tricks, cheating, and sabotage.
· Izzy - Izzy is the most psychotic member of the camp who is soothed by the sounds of horror movie soundtracks and was put to sleep with the sounds as a lullaby when she was a baby. She is known for her insane/stalker personality, and her habit of talking really fast.
· Justin - Justin likes gorgeous things, or anything that matches him in terms of looks. A successful male model, he joined TDI so he can donate his winnings to the Unattractive-Looking People Wish Foundation.
· Noah - Noah is a self-absorbed, lazy, manipulative person who blends in with the background. He is known for being a freakish child genius and joined TDI because he wants to apply skills from fantasy-land survival video games to the real world.
Can anyone say insane gender-stereotyping? How about over-sexualized and totally inappropriate for children? Cartoon Network summarizes each episode on their website, using language like "Hook-up," "Cody hits on Gwen about a gazillion times," and "Geoff makes a few moves on Bridgette." Is this show designed for pre-teens or is it a parody of reality shows like Survivor? Or maybe a combination of the two? I am honestly confused! If the show is not for kids, why does Cartoon Network have a kid-friendly website with games related to the show?
I don't know about other parents, but I have a hard enough time convincing my child that TV is not the way the real world works. Calling it "reality TV" is just making it harder.
