Reality Is No Longer Real

Every time I turn on the TV, it seems like a new "reality" show is about to come out, and America is eating it up. But what is it that we are learning from these shows? Or, what can be said about us and our fascination with them?

When CBS first announced the running of its now-classic television show Survivor (how many years has it been now?), I was excited. I had gone through some survival training, and I had read a lot on the subject and on the outdoors in general. So, I was there in front of my TV the night the show premiered, bowl of popcorn in one hand, glass of iced tea in the other. But while I sat through the first of many episodes that season, I realized that what the network had been touting as “Reality TV” was, in fact, very unreal. Survivor was not about real people trying to actually survive under overwhelming conditions, as a true survival situation would be. It was just all a big game show, the grand prize being one million dollars.

The most unrealistic thing about it was not the silly competitions between those on the show or the junk food they won as prizes. What was so ridiculous was that at any time, if a contestant felt like they could no longer go on, they could leave the island, the situation, and the other people involved. They could just get on a helicopter and zoom off to a resort, where they traded in their filth and hunger for a hot shower and a pair of shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, sipping drinks with little umbrellas in them. (Of course the dropouts were “stuck” there until the end of the season.) “That’s not so bad,” the viewer thought. “If they don’t get the money, at least they get a nice vacation out of it.” However, with all the morning talk shows, evening news programs, magazine articles, and water cooler conversations, those who quit, as well as those who plainly failed, received more than a vacation. They received worship.

“You can tell a lot about a man by…” By what? His clothes or his car? By where he dines or plays golf? By who he rubs elbows with at parties?

By what television shows he watches?

Sadly, these are the ways most Americans would answer when posed this question. But it is no different than it ever has been. Our identity comes from that which we worship. Mankind has only changed gods... again.

America is not a Christian nation (and I suspect it never was), but a nation of millions of individualists, all worshipping themselves and each other. The followers of this faith hold to certain unvalues... Mistrust of others for no reason. Self-reliance with an accompanying insecurity. Indifference to those in need while complaining about the state of the world. Busyness without the enjoyment of a job well-done. Sexual perversion without true gratification. An unyielding pursuit of wealth that ultimately produces nothing yet consumes everything. Competition with no real winners. Assertiveness over those who cannot resist. A lack of any kind of resolve (except to get your own way). And a strange mix of extravagance and greed.

They are told through popular culture and its media that if they practice these unwritten commandments, they will find all that they are searching for. At the same time and through the same media, the public is learning exactly what it is they should be searching for—more and better. You need more than you have, and it should be better than your neighbor’s.

Survivor and shows like it (reality or otherwise) are the prophets of the religion of the American Dream. Along with magazines, radio, and the internet, they are the mouthpieces of the 300 million American gods. They teach us that life is all a game, that if you cheat, steal, or just quit, you’ll still get just as much out of it as the other person. If things don’t turn out the way you planned or if you hurt someone along the way, it’s okay, because everyone will forget about it next season.

We have some lovely parting gifts for you.

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