Being the tv loving maniac that I am, I had glued myself to the tv since my early childhood, remembering the days where talking car, and impossible missions being accomplish was all so exciting. The one that had me staring at the tv in anticipation was my all time favorite 'Macgyver': nothing beats a man that beats everything with nothing..errmm..confused? haha.
Those were the days where tv programs were all innocent. No hanky panky, no obscenity, no nothing except a'little scadily clad women in bikini(s), remember Baywatch? Yes, there was those girl running in slow motion since time could tell. Through it all, tv weren't that much interesting, not at least until now.
Turn on the tv and you'll get Reality tv programs on nearly every bloody channel there is. There no point in switching channels, you can't run from the reality that 'reality tv' is everywhere. Its significance has impacted the whole tv industry in a astronomical way. This is what I like to call a 'TV Evolution'. Evolution in the tv industries don't happen much, with just a handful of to date.
The first was probably the change from shows alike the Charlie Chaplin, that was all so quiet to those with sounds. The huge leap was one of the industries biggest evolution ever. The whole idea of having silver screen and motion pictures with sound was itself evolution. Soon the black and white tv show were filled with vibrant colours illuminating the screen of the tele. From good'old Charlie Chaplin, to The Three Stooges; it was not long after that ideas of better script writing was to revolutionize itself too. People were startin to get too acustom to one hitting another on the head for the sake of comedy. It no longer amused audience, and the show had to move on. So came unforgetable series like 'I Dreamt of Jennie', 'Bewitched' and so on.
Soap operas started pourin in not long after, keeping the womens to glued like siamese twins to the tv. All in all, tv's recent evolution has been far out more impacting than ever-The Reality TV Evolution.
No one really knew when this evolution took place, but as far as I could remember, the major boost was the introduction of the tv series showing 16 persons stranded on a island to survive. Yes, Survivor has gone a long way since the start of its initial season. With all that, just too many ideas started popping out like popcorns. The greatest idea yet, was to play with emotions. 'Emotions', how can it ever go wrong? That was indeed the ideal recipe for good tv! 'The Bachellor' came and gone, giving path to even more corny ideas. 'My Big Fat Obnoxious Boyfriend' was by far the best I've seen yet so far. It was itself a classic for emotional testings.
As we indulge ourselves everyday to these mindless programs that we find so humourous, we ourselves are stucked in a universal box that has us all not thinking. We laugh, we joke, we critise at those in the reality shows and we ultimately fail to understand the great humiliation a contestant may go through. This is not just an ordinary humiliating moment, but one that would be shown throughout the world. One that would haunt till their very last breath.
'It serves them right!' 'Its their own choice to go on tv'. Isn't that the most common words critised at them that has indeed successfully humiliate themselves. Though we may feel it is their choice to participate in these programs, one's choice to participate does not necessarily mean putting their dignity on the line to be tarnished. The great impact of being humiliated infront of millions of home viewers is one that haunts even the most 'muka tebal' persons.
Already, 2 persons had committed suicide. Both deaths were in comtemplation of their humiliations in these reality tv competitions. Evidently, humiliation on national tv is a big deal. Its all fun and jokes for us until someone takes their life. Who is to blame? Is it them, the tv broadcasters, or us?
Indeed, tv's evolution has set a bench mark on its industry, a bench mark of more successful and exciting programs. It has also marks history to the death of 2 man, ashamed to face the world for their very self respect has been destroyed.
Yes, as evolution has taken its place, the real reality shall too make its mark. A mark that will forever stain the very dignity of our friends. Let us all hail to this reality tv's evolution.
*For Najai.