I watched the inauguration this morning in an office that has multiple tv’s. The inauguration was on a large screen tv but on a smaller tv next to it Oxygen was on. While Obama was being sworn in the Bad Girls Club was on.
While i was very intrigued and inspired by Obama I also found myself reflecting on reality tv and the implications the last 8 years have had on what we view as entertainment…
The appeal of “reality shows” that have been created, espiecally in the past 4 years is that they focus on trashy and or superficial people. This has been explained as a form of escapism for people. I disagree these shows are not a form of escapism, but rather a source of denial. Why do we love to tune into I Love New York? The Hills? Because we want to laugh at the ridiculousness of people and remind ourselves that we are not that fame hungry, not that shallow, not that dumb, not that mean, not that self centered.
as I sat and watched the bad girls club with Obama’s speech providing the audio, all I could think about was how reality TV has become a way for all of us to deny our own behavior. Instead of doing something about the pessimism we developed over the past years we chose to entertain ourselves with outlandish characters who we believe to out of touch with right and wrong and thus feel better in the choices we make in our lives. I just think it is interesting that as the country was going down hill the popularity (or maybe just the Volume) of theses shows has increased.
anyways, this is my point. I am optimistic about the change Obama is seemly making in people. The idea of personal responsibility is a value I have always held in high regards, and something that has frustrated me a lot in the past few years. I just thought it was very interesting watching the dichotomy of the two programs airing at the same time.
