Is it just me or has this reality show craze gone too far? There was a reason why everyone was not on TV before, because not everyone had talent. While I agree there is hidden talent all across the country, not everyone has it. I am not a fan of the television medium in general and the reality show genre in particular. I find it difficult to watch ordinary people make fools of themselves for their 15 minutes of fame. It seems that with each and every passing year Andy Warhol’s famous for 15 minutes is more and more prophetic. What does it say about a culture when we take the trivial and mediocre and elevate it to celebrity status? Are we so starved for entertainment that watching self-obsessed and obnoxious bores is now considered art?
I am of the opinion that the real attraction to these shows is not the search for unsung talent but that good ole American tradition of watching train wrecks. What is it about the misfortunes of others that we find so enthralling? I shudder to think what future historians and anthropologists will write about our current culture. I wonder will they write about how we have replaced the fine art forms of poetry, painting, and music with rap, tattoos, and reality television. It appears we are rapidly becoming a nation of voyeurs who weekly peer into the lives of others for virtues and calamities that allow us to live vicariously through them. As our modern world relies more and more on technology it is becoming increasingly easier to replace face to face interaction and relationships with these contrived and detached interactions and relationships. We have replaced the virtues of serving the common good and self-sacrifice with this self-absorbed and do anything for a chance to see myself on television mentality.
My biggest concern with this type of entertainment is that it blurs the boundaries of fantasy and reality in the minds of many viewers. It cannot be reality once you introduce a camera. Regardless of the subject or the topic once you include a camera in the proceedings people are no longer spontaneous or real. They respond to the presence of the camera either in overly exaggerated or in understated ways depending on their circumstances and their personalities. I mean how is it spontaneous to watch Paris Hilton performing menial tasks when she is aware of the presence of a camera or for that matter a house full of strangers who know their every move is being recorded? Everyone knows the camera is there so where is the reality? Even with the cop shows their behavior is dictated by the camera. To some degree or another it is all scripted and edited. So what we are witnessing are isolated moments that are designed to illicit the most responses from the viewers and to reinforce previously held stereotypes. These shows for the most part appeal not to our higher natures, but to our lower natures.
Another concern I have is how so many relish in the humiliation of others in front of millions. It is not enough that people are defeated but they must be defeated in the most degrading and shameful ways. We tell ourselves it is just entertainment and no one is hurt, but think about what it is reinforcing in our culture. What are the values that are being offered by these shows; that it is ok to treat others in this way for the purpose of entertainment? In most cases it is success or winning at all costs. These shows glorify dishonesty, selfishness, and spite. Success and fame are to be sought after at the detriment of all other goals. Forget the fact that success as defined by these narrow standards is unobtainable for most people. You can find fame and wealth not through hard work and sacrifice but through displaying the worst traits of our common natures. We no longer celebrate the journey and all of the life lessons learned through it, but instead we celebrate that the ends justify the means. There is nothing to be learned through effort and defeat only in winning is there something of value.
We are allowing our popular culture to lead us astray and in the process we are losing sight of what things are truly important. This popular culture has no values to teach us that are lasting and meaningful. It has only one value money. How one gets it is immaterial to the fact that one has it. We see it in the videos of rappers, the greed of Wall Street, and the behavior of our public and elected officials. According to this culture if you are not white, rich, skinny, and beautiful your worth is diminished and the value of your life is depreciated. If you happened to be one of the unfortunate ones who do not possess all of these qualities not to worry they can still be yours for a price. And once in hand these things will lead you to a life of happiness and popularity. Instead of creating an atmosphere that will bring us closer together this type of entertainment only fosters stereotypes and further alienates us from each other. As we become increasingly separate from each other the easier it will be to humiliate and degrade one another for the sake of entertainment or just for the hell of it.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Everyone Is Not A Celebrity
Friday, July 20, 2007
Back in Da Hood
A federal grand jury in
Vick, one of the NFL's most exciting players, was charged with competitive dogfighting and conducting the venture across state lines. The 19-page indictment alleged Vick was highly involved in the operation, alleging that he attended fights and paid off bets when his dogs lost. It said he also was involved in the executions of dogs that did not perform well.[1]
Many people will wonder how a man under contract to make 130 million dollars, not to mention millions more in endorsements, could be involved in something so cruel as what has been alleged in this case? A man who arguably is one of the best athletes in the NFL and a public icon in
In order to get a better understanding of what is taking place; one must look into the history of many of these stars. It is in looking at their backgrounds that their behavior begins to not seem as bizarre as we would like to think. Many of us cannot understand how men who are making ungodly amounts of money are willing to throw it all away to ride around carrying guns, smoking pot, and assaulting women. Let me start by saying that the majority of athletes both Black and White are not criminals. Because we live in a celebrity driven society the media will continue to highlight the ones that they consider newsworthy. This may not be fair, but everyone who signs on for their 15 minutes are aware of the rules and consents to them. You can’t accept the money and the perks from having celebrity status, but then whine when they use it to sell newspapers, because you got caught doing something stupid. It may be something that Joe Sixpack may do all day long and nobody says anything, but that’s because he is not considered newsworthy. Again, it isn’t fair but its how the game is played.
Having read a number of articles concerning this particular case and others that are similar in recent weeks, I can’t help but notice that there are those who will defend a Black man no matter what he is accused of, convicted of, or confessed to doing. I understand the desire to do so, but at the same time it is this blind race defending that cheapens the times when there really is racial outrage. It is not a secret that Black stars are targeted by the media, law enforcement, and an angry white public. There are those who would like nothing better than to see the frailties of Black men and women exposed and make it stereotypical of all Blacks. Again it doesn’t make it right, it just makes it real. Every Black person in
We should stop confusing how things should be, with how things are. Sure in a perfect world we would all be judged equally and based on our character and not our color, but we don’t live in that world. We should be able to condemn the behavior of criminals and deviants no matter what their race. Why does it have to be an either/or scenario. Why can‘t we be able to acknowledge that there is prejudice and that we have some criminals worthy of punishment.
Black stars are different from many of their white counterparts. Most black stars come from poor, single mother households. This is not an indictment against being poor or single mothers, it is merely a fact. They grow up in bad neighborhoods and are surrounded by the “ghetto” lifestyle, these are there realities. Poor people live by different rules. The things that people value changes as their economic status changes, but the rules are much harder to change. Because so many of the Black stars grew up poor and most were not just in situational poverty, but generational poverty the rules they live by are still the same no matter what their economic circumstances. The difference in situational poverty and generational poverty is that when one has situational poverty, it occurs due to some unforeseen circumstance, a medical catastrophe or a layoff. The family was making ends meet until the incident occurred and usually given a change in economic circumstances the family regains some semblance of their previous life. Generational poverty is when the family has been poor for multiple generations; this occurs a lot with single teenage mothers, coming from single teenage mothers. My grandmother lived in the projects, my mother lived in the projects, and I live in the projects. For these stars, no matter how much success they receive or how much money they make, in their minds they are always “back in da hood”, keeping it real. This is why they exhibit the same behavior as others who are still living in the ghetto. You have stars that are making lots of money, dealing drugs, not because they need the money but because this is what we do in the hood.
You add to this poverty mix, the star worship culture that we surround them with and before long they think they can do no wrong. Having been a part of the athlete worship environment I know firsthand how we coddle our star athletes from a very early age, we give them a false sense of the world. They can begin to believe that they are above the law. This attitude is dangerous for any black man no matter what his status is.
I have read that because of white people’s unhealthy love of animals and animal rights that Michael Vick is being unfairly treated. I admit that the calls for the death penalty are a bit ridiculous. I am not an animal fanatic. I have had dogs and I like dogs, but I don’t put animals in the same category as people. As much as sometimes I despise people, I will unfortunately always chose a human life over an animal. What Michael Vick is accused of is heinous. I have never found pleasure in watching animals fighting each other, it just isn’t my thing. But what troubles me more is the treatment of the animals after they fought or during the training process. It is cruel to hang, drown, or beat a dog to death, I’m sorry regardless of your feelings about animals and animal rights this is a no-brainer. I pray that these accusations are false, but if they prove to be true then Mr. Vick will surely be thrown to the dogs…
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