reality

Reality TV (The True Man Show)

3.19.01

Once upon a time in a land very much like this one, but with more creativity...people started stories out with lines like "Once upon a time." They told tales that were perhaps based on life's real experiences as to appeal and relate to people of all lands. But then they did something more amazing. They used their imagination and ingrained sense of wonder, letting their minds race with unique ideas, twisting plots, memorable and complex characters in order to entertain each other; and occasionally to provoke substantial thought and introspection.

Yes, in a land now seemingly far, far away, tales were wonderfully spun...the boundaries of our emotional storehouses stretched to engulf the jewels forged by these archaic species known as "writers" and made manifest by those believers of the mysterious, known in ancient history books as "actors." Hard to imagine, I know, but there once was a day when man did more than point a camera at the bar tender who used to live next door, struggling to survive the next tribal counsel meeting. It's as if we've regressed to playing the games of our childhood, yet in the real surroundings, playing far too seriously and with the world neighborhood looking on.

What a paradox: There are real people in the world naturally trying to survive oppression, their
lack of food or harsh geographic situation... and at the same time we take middle class Americans and actually create adverse situations in which they must survive and battle each other; and all for the sake of "entertainment." We see the evening news and catch CNN, yet we still find a need to watch COPS or America's Most Wanted. Half of the adults I know are divorced and nearly a month goes by that I don't learn about marrital acquaintances in turmoil; yet there's still a market for Temptation Island. What?! Boot Camp is coming?? You mean I'll get more GI reality than Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, or An Officer And a Gentleman? I can hardly wait...

Experts tell us that the more we've been exposed to violence the more immune and desensitized to it we as a culture have become... we see it in schoolyards with alarming frequency. (I wonder if networks and studios are vying for rights to put spy cams in public schools hoping for the next reality based terrorist special.) With the "Blob"-like growth of reality TV, and the exposure of our culture to real life people in real life situations; how long do you think we have before we become desensitized to reality?...

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		Reality TV (The True Man Show) 3.19.01 Once upon a time in a land very much like this one, but with more creativity...people started stories out with lines like "Once upon a time." They told tales that were perhaps based on life's real experiences as to appeal and relate to people of all lands. But then they did something more amazing. They used their imagination and ingrained sense of wonder, letting their minds race with unique ideas, twisting plots, memorable and complex characters in order to entertain each other; and occasionally to provoke substantial thought and introspection. Yes, in a land now seemingly far, far away, tales were wonderfully spun...the boundaries of our emotional storehouses stretched to engulf the jewels forged by these archaic species known as "writers" and made manifest by those believers of the mysterious, known in ancient history books as "actors." Hard to imagine, I know, but there once was a day when man did more than point a camera at the bar tender who used to live next door, struggling to survive the next tribal counsel meeting. It's as if we've regressed to playing the games of our childhood, yet in the real surroundings, playing far too seriously and with the world neighborhood looking on. What a paradox: There are real people in the world naturally trying to survive oppression, their lack of food or harsh geographic situation... and at the same time we take middle class Americans and actually create adverse situations in which they must survive and battle each other; and all for the sake of "entertainment." We see the evening news and catch CNN, yet we still find a need to watch COPS or America's Most Wanted. Half of the adults I know are divorced and nearly a month goes by that I don't learn about marrital acquaintances in turmoil; yet there's still a market for Temptation Island. What?! Boot Camp is coming?? You mean I'll get more GI reality than Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, or An Officer And a Gentleman? I can hardly wait... Experts tell us that the more we've been exposed to violence the more immune and desensitized to it we as a culture have become... we see it in schoolyards with alarming frequency. (I wonder if networks and studios are vying for rights to put spy cams in public schools hoping for the next reality based terrorist special.) With the "Blob"-like growth of reality TV, and the exposure of our culture to real life people in real life situations; how long do you think we have before we become desensitized to reality?... <Back