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Christian Arroyave
Professor DerOhanessian
English 115
October 29th, 2014

What Reality TV Really Shows us

Whether reality television is actual reality, one thing is certain; most television shows
captivate us with an exaggerated view on reality. From the scripted reality shows to the ones that
pin people up against each other and hand out money at the end, theres always something about
the idea of reality TV that keeps people tuning in. Week after week on some of paid
programings most popular networks, reality shows like Are you the One [1] and Who Wants to
Marry a Millionaire? have emerged as generally entertaining shows with a wide range of
viewers. These shows give a set number of single bachelors and bachelorettes various weeks to
find their true love, both shows respectively differing from each other in terms of how the people
on the show go about finding their love. The idea of finding your one true love on filmed
television excites most but is pretty far removed from the norm. Theres a difference between
represented reality and reality itself, and reality television is distorting the contrast between the
two for those who watch it. Reality dating shows can do more than just entertain; they can
communicate ideas and perceptions and in the grand scheme of things, its important to
recognize how reality television, specifically reality dating shows, can negatively affect its
viewers and their perception about reality and what is being proclaimed a reality.

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For years and years, the MTV network has aired some of pop culture's most favored and
popular reality shows about finding relationships. A more recent series, Are you the One, is a
prime example of aired TV time that reaches countless home's week in and week out. Are you the
One puts twenty single people living in a house for several weeks. With ten guys and ten girls in
the house, the show is composed of ten alleged, perfect couples but no one knows who their
other half is. Every week the people in the house pair up in an attempt to match everyone into
their perfect couples. MTV has composed a show that is centered on the idea of being paired
with the perfect person for you. With online dating and algorithms designed to pair you up with
the ideal person, a show about these dating methods at work is highly attractive to young
audiences who are not only some of the most active members of the online community, but they
are also growing up in a time in which online dating is starting to outweigh actual face to face
socialization.
So whats so interesting about a reality television series that can be derived EHarmony
online, well its the exaggerated reality within itself. Its safe to argue that although the structure
of this dating show is witty and well composed, people dont watch in hopes of watching other
people fall in love but rather tune in to watch the racy and sensual process of it all. The actual
reality of this dating show is that it was probably filmed in a span of a month, while the actual
show runs for a couple of months at a time. At home we might be thinking that two people have
been building a relationship and getting to know each other for weeks while in reality, these
people could be on like the third day of filming and the second day of knowing each other.
Despite a mock love connection, we all tune in on the progress of the couples and continue to
watch as the sexual tension builds between attractive strangers living together in one big house.
With a dating reality show geared towards the ideas of promiscuous dating and beyond outgoing

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people, a theme of sexuality and openness towards ideas of this sense gets communicated in the
show. According to a study conducted by Eileen L. Zurbriggen and Elizabeth M. Morgan in the
hopes of finding correlations between reality dating programs and a difference in viewers
attitudes toward sex, data suggested that young adults that watched reality-dating programs
might model the behavior and tendencies of those on television. The lustful and sexual content
being aired is not only inappropriate but also baneful due to the fact that it could induce people
into riskier and more promiscuous dating habits that can keep someone from developing intimate
relationships.
From a viewers perspective and as someone who has seen the show its safe to say that
people dont buy the idea that you can find your one true love by signing up for a reality
television series, but that doesnt stop our perspective from changing after we watch these shows.
We see these characters drink and act up and act crazy but they somehow still find love. Why is
it that no one ever questions why two promiscuous people having shouting matches over drinks
and girls still find love at the end of the season. Even if anyone did question it, a viewer is more
likely to assimilate this guys action in the hopes of meeting a girl rather than deviate from
whats on TV. To stray away from whats on MTV is to stray away from a network shaped by
popular aspects of life. With a network based on popular culture, its easy to get immersed in
media content relevant to us. In accordance with Thomas Meades publication The dating game:
Cultivation effects on relational investment, its dangerous to get immersed in reality dating
shows because the viewer is more inclined to think that whats on TV is the means of the world.
When inundated with media content, especially television, an individual watching is more likely
to accept what he watches as an experience within his personal world allowing his perception to

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be shaped by the crazy characters casted on TV and the outgoing actions they are encouraged to
do.
Its very easy to infer that people cant possibly be as aloof as to imitate whats on TV or
let whats on TV affect them in their daily lives. Its also very easy to imply that its not just
reality television communicating these themes but rather most television programing. An
argument can be made to say that if the individual wanted to, they could ignore the themes being
communicated and be unaffected by whats on TV. To say this is somewhat ignorant. Reality
television is geared towards looking and feeling real. To think that we are unaffected by what
we spend attention on is highly dubious and cold to those who indulge themselves into their
interests. Its important to stay aware of what were taking away from these reality shows given
the fact that its more than just the actual show that were watching, but rather a collection of
people who we think are real, specifically casted to arouse interest in viewers.

Although these shows are for entertainment purposes, they are fairly new to us as a
population and we have not yet tried to understand the implications television like this might
have on its viewers. People tuning in week after week for exaggerated drama and alcohol
induced actions never tune off in discontent but rather indulge in the show by voting on their
favorite bachelor, but what does this say about the values we are closely relating to finding a life
partner. Reality television might be exaggerated TV, but regardless of its authenticity it still has
real life implications for those watching. Harsh implications like a perceived reality and an
exaggerated outtake on life. TV is already highly influential as is, with edgier and more explicit
dating shows on the horizon, it important to recognize what it is we watch and the things these
shows might be communicating to us as a society.

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Works cited

Meade, Thomas L. "The Dating Game: Cultivation Effects on Relational Investment."

Order No. AAI1471801 ProQuest. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.

Zurbriggen, Eileen L., and Elizabeth M. Morgan. "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?
Reality Dating Television Programs, Attitudes Toward Sex, and Sexual Behaviors." Sex Roles: A
Journal of Research 54.1-2 (2006): Pg. 1-2. ProQuest. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
[1]

Are You the One? Mtv. N.d. Television.