A Shift of Reality
The new television genre of reality shows is becoming so popular because they offer an alternate sense of reality. What is reality and is there only one interpretation or many different ones? There is no one reality because reality shifts. The dictionary definition of reality is the following: Reality is the state of things as they are rather than as they are imagined to be. Realities are facts. Just like reality, facts also shift. There could be a newspaper article about an earthquake in Los Angeles and it would describe the damage and deaths, which are facts. Another edition of the newspaper may come out a few days later with new information and more deaths to account for which would then cause the facts to shift. Virtual reality is the set of images and sounds produced by a computer which seem to represent a place or situation in which a person experiencing it can take part but is this really reality? There cannot be just one reality that is universal to everyone because along with the always-changing context, people's perception also changes on a regular basis. To help illustrate this, reality television programs have been created. Of course the producers of these television shows do not want t
I think that a big part of this popularity with the reality television shows is credited to people's fascination with fantasy worlds and wanting to live the perfect life where everything happens just as it should. How can one define the perfect life? Is it having a lot of money and being able to do everything you want or is it having an enormous family with lots of love? It is hard to say what the perfect life is. These new television shows challenge that perception on what people think reality is and offers a different level of reality. This is why I believe that there can be no one reality. Everyone has a different view of what they think reality is to them, what is normal to them, what is a perfect life and what is important to them that they get out of life. They compare their lives to those people on these television shows because it is the closet to real that they can relate to without actually being directly involved. They don't compare their lives to movies and TV sitcoms as much because they know that they both have scripts that the actors have to follow and they are seen as farther from the true reality than a show like Real World or Survivor. By watching these shows people can live their lives almost through the characters and that way there are no consequences. The characters do things that us as individuals would never think of doing or chances we could or never would take. These new reality television shows offer an alternate sense of reality and many different levels of it. There is not one reality because it is forever changing and evolving and our society has taken this new genre of television shows to portray this. Berger makes a claim on page 105 in the Way of Reading text. He says that "the way we see things if affected by what we know or what we believe". This helps to explain why there is not one reality and the distinctions between the varying levels of reality. If an individual is brought up in an environment where his/her parents don't get along and there is dishonesty in the family, then they might grow up to view cheating as not so bad. They would view Temptation Island as a show similar to their childhood and might encourage the couples to cheat or wouldn't look down upon it whereas a child who was brought up in a different type of environment where dishonesty is looked down upon tremendously. This child might view the show as disgusting and repulsive and might not understand why any couple would agree to participate. There are many other cultural issues in our society that one could argue are ambivalent. The issue of abortion, adultery i.e. Monica Lewinsky, the price of gas, child labor laws or speeding regulations. The experiences in our lives and our beliefs shape the way that we see reality. It all relates to Berger's claim about the way that we see things are affected by what we know and believe. How real are these television shows and can you really compare them to real life reality?
Some common words found in the essay are:
Temptation Island, Real World, Monica Lewinsky, Los Angeles, Shift Reality, World Survivor, temptation island, real world, reality television, perfect life, sense reality, real life, reality reality, alternate sense, offer alternate, offer alternate sense, alternate sense reality, Island Real, people temptation island, reality real world, tv sitcoms, temptation island real,
Approximate Word count = 2001
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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