Jackie Johnston
Assignment 1-4
HUMN 341 F2WW


I chose to use the topic of People against Reality TV shows as my pop culture topic for this assignment. The article that I chose was titled “Reality TV has real problems”. The article was about a person’s opinion on reality TV going to far and there being way too much of it. Stephanie Keene says “Lately you can’t turn on the TV without seeing another reality show”. The author of this article talks about reality shows being an embarrassment to society and that it’s really getting out of hand (Keene, 2007). The author goes on to state that these shows are ridiculous because there are just so many of them, and so many people who are willing to do literally anything to be on TV to win some money (Keene, 2007). Keene uses the example of the reality show Fear Factor, and that contestants are willing to lie in a box of snakes all for the chance to win some money. According to this article, we have become desensitized to these kinds of things that we are seeing on TV (Keene, 2007). The author brings up a good point in this article, that these people participate in these reality shows and then don’t succeed, and then end up on some other show talking about their moment on the reality show, in other words we are giving people more attention for doing ridiculous things (Keene, 2007). Stephanie Keene then goes on to talk about the effects that reality shows have on society and how some reality shows promote sexism. Reality shows are having an effect on society because they are placing people in certain situations. For example, the Real World on MTV always seems to have an angry person of a different race, an insecure white girl, and a frat boy (Keene, 2007). By putting the exact same scenario together each time, we are influencing society. Another example that was used to demonstrate the negative effects that reality shows on promoting sexism was the show “Next” where men and women have to compete to get the other’s attention or they are “nexted” (Keene, 2007). The article talks about the show next putting a negative influence out there for young men and women, and that they should judge people like on the show. The article ends with Keene saying, “Even though there are so many negative aspects of reality TV, people will continue to support it. People will go on the shows because it seems like an easy way to gain fame and fortune, and people will continue to watch them because it makes for fun entertainment. Most don't think of the consequences of reality TV, but in the long run, it just may be the downfall of our society.”








Reference
Keene, Stephanie. (2007). Reality TV has real problems. Retrieved on September 30, 2007, from http://media.www.wkuherald.com/media/storage/paper603/news/2007/01/25/Opinion/Commentary.Reality.Tv.Has.Real.Problems-2676820.shtml