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Andrew Willard
Kevilina Burbank
Writing 122.07
17 Feb 2013


Reality Shows and the American Psyche

Welcome to the modern world, we're all sucking on the same pop cultural crack pipe, yet
few Americans will admit they actually inhale! Reality shows have become very popular in our
country over the last decade. Ever since Survivor, reality television has been an easy target for
those who see it as Americans tuning into these mind decaying shows and getting lost from
reality! Reality shows are usually dismissed as fake and routinely slammed for being unreal.
Critics say it eats up air time and job opportunities for those people who are trying to make it
into the television industry. Critics also point out; you can't really expect someone who's
surrounded by cameras to act naturally all of the time.
Regardless of what Americans think, reality shows have grown into a multibillion-dollar
industry. Reality television is not just people fighting on islands or living in houses together,
according to Billboard Magazine, shows like American Idol and X Factor are bringing in an
estimated $500 million just in ad revenue!
Many of these reality shows run the gamut from high-quality, dramatically compelling
work to silly and just plain trash! While many people insist they love their reality shows, an
Insider Advantage survey found that "67 percent of Americans" were "becoming tired of so-
called reality programs." An additional survey from Circuit City concluded that 58 percent of
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viewers are getting tired of reality television. But even while many Americans are saying reality
television is getting old, they're still watching!
Also according to the those surveys, Americans say a lot of the joy of watching these
reality shows, is knowing even the producers cant predict how the characters on a show will act
and the audiences feel like they're now part of something that's evolving right before their eyes.
If obsessions with celebrities rise and fall and rise again in cycles, then it make sense that reality
television would become popular in the wake of the late '90s, when celebrity obsession reached
new levels of absurdity.
Reality television is much more seductive, than other types of programming, because it
seems much more real and much less orchestrated, says S. Shyam Sundar, a professor of
communications and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory at Penn State
University. We can tweet at pretty much any celeb, Sundar says, but reality television viewers
eat up the idea of interacting with a presumably real person who is not bound by a script. So
while it may be hard to find someone who doesnt enjoy at least some reality programming, what
do our reality television habits really reveal about Americans?
Audiences bored with celebrity break ups and getting back together suddenly found
themselves with more likable, less remote personalities to root for. Instead of focusing all their
attention on those so far out of touch from reality, these shows offer all of us a chance to admire
real people for qualities that go beyond choosing the perfect dress for the Oscars or smiling
sweetly for the cameras on the red carpet.
In reality the American psyche shows we will say one thing and do another. Americans
are letting their minds get lost in a reality show or two and root for the person they want to win
and they actually feel as if they are a part of the outcome. Americans are acting as if they hate
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these shows and then run home, jump on the couch and cheer for their favorite character.
Unfortunately it appears there is nothing that can be done to stop these shows or Americans from
watching them. Americans have to make their own conscious choice to waste time watching or
actually get off the couch and do something productive!




















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Works Cited
Gardner, Eriq, Reality Power: Special Report, The Hollywood Reporter, May 22, 2010
Havrilesky, Heather. "Reality TV Fosters Connections Between People." Popular
Culture
Nededog, Jethro, American Idol and X Factor Nab Highest Ad Revenue Per Half
Hour. Billboard Magazine, April 10
th
2012
S. Shyam Sundar, professor of communications and co-director of the Media Effects
Research Laboratory at Penn State University, July 11
th
2012