By Jamie Neben

I’ll be the first to admit that some so-called reality programs are entertaining at times.  While I could never visit the fictional worlds of my favorite childhood programs, or meet my favorite characters, I can now turn on the tube and see real people in real places.  Since I live in California, the action might literally occur just down the street.  These people could be any one of us.  That’s intriguing.  But that’s also where we have a problem.  What’s done in the name of entertainment is destroying lives.  The madness must stop immediately. 

First of all, I’m not here to defend any of these quasi-celebrities who run into trouble.  I’m not very sympathetic to anyone who falls victim to the very fame they chased and embraced.  To be sure, desiring national (or international) recognition is hardly a new concept.  But that ambition, in combination with the increasingly high demand to see ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, produces a result that almost becomes unreal. Apparently, even the act of mass procreation is enough to warrant stardom.  The culture all of this has created is plainly obvious.  Just in this past year, we’ve seen headlines featuring Octomom, Jon and Kate, and Balloon Boy in our top news stories. 

Ok, there’s nothing wrong with a person trying to position himself for a television show in safe and creative ways.  Unique talent should indeed be rewarded.  Modern technology opens up so many possibilities that previously didn’t exist.  However, it’s another deal altogether when kids are involved.  When children are on public display at an age when they are still largely unprepared for life’s challenges, saying that it’s gone too far is an understatement.  One can argue that it borders on exploitation.  We’ve witnessed what happens when things go wrong.

The potential damage may actually be worse for those who have not yet landed on television but are desperate to do so. Performance art is being taken to a whole new level.  It’s like a get rich quick scheme.  Attempts to become famous have sometimes created dangerous situations that were embarrassing, long-lasting, and possibly have legal ramifications as we just witnessed with the alleged hoax in Colorado.   For the lucky few that ultimately succeed, countless others are relegated to wiping the egg off their faces—if they’re lucky.

At some point the question must be asked:  who’s to blame for this behavior?   Are these people just plain nuts?  How about the media outlets that keep adding more of these shows to their schedules?  But wait.  What if it’s us that are causing the problem through our continued viewership?  What if we stopped watching?  Could our shared contempt of the genre bring on a much needed shift in their approach?  Needless to say, there’s more than one contributing factor.

I realize that from an economic standpoint, reality TV is going nowhere fast.  But our social attitudes can perhaps influence people to think about their family’s welfare while deciding how important it is to be on television.  Now that I think about it, those reruns of Happy Days are looking better every day.