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Tele"no"vision

Discovery Channel - Reality TV
TLC - Reality TV
History Channel - Reality TV

 I'm not much of television person and the list of shows on these channels isn't going to particularly interest me either. It's so funny that reality television is so far from reality and in past few years this junk has grown faster than fast food (please read junk food) chains.

 I never really understood the purpose of reality TV. Is it providing an insight into the everyday life of people? I don't know if having tens of cameras following you is leaving any room for originality. Also don't forget the pressure of producers that want to achieve a set viewer rating.

 The commercialization is evident in pop-culture, Sheldon Cooper (from The Big Bang Theory) says, "He owns Fox and they canceled Firefly"; when he is creating a list of traitors. So everything is about what people want and any shred of "what people need" is not a commercially viable option.

I am still not sure why we have reality TV. Perhaps it gives an unrivaled delight to see others screw up on TV. Or we enjoy a larger than life presence even though it's shrouded in a thick veil of unreality. Don't get me wrong I'm a fan of imagination but reality TV is more about extreme lack of it.

The words of Sean Penn make more sense as every day I see reality TV increasing its permanence. What words? Well, the actor said on Inside Actors Studio that you can't erase out of your mind once you've heard it.

(quote) If you want entertainment, you get a couple of hookers and some cocaine. People very happily and proudly say there's room for entertainment strictly for its own sake, but I disagree with that. Film is just too powerful a medium to be just that. There's gotta be some kind of human sharing in it and some kind of journey and risk-taking so it's exciting not only for the audience but also for the participants (unquote).

Television (or any form of art medium) has the power to induce ideological shifts and affect minds of millions. However diluting the essence of this medium to mindless blathering that doesn't even gives a drop of satisfaction but leads rational minds to numbness.
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