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Reality TV - is it a good thing?

The latest news from Cafestudy

Posted by: Caféstudy

11th Oct 2013 05:24pm


It seems Cafestudy members are split when it comes to reality shows such as The Biggest Loser, Big Brother and the X Factor. You either love them or you hate them!

Says BigGazza - “There is no ‘reality’ in reality TV. It is all manufactured rubbish and I refuse to watch any of it.”

When it comes to reality TV, many of you express strong views against it. The feeling is that it is not about reality anymore, but about creating drama through forced situations, for example, deliberately putting together clashing personalities. So really, according to some of you, it amounts to nothing more than a case of bad acting. The most unpopular reality show in this respect is Big Brother.

Some of you even describe reality shows as the exploitation of vulnerable people, and the show which causes the most controversy among you is the Biggest Loser. You either think it is a good thing, motivating those who are watching it to take action and lose weight....or awful. LiviaVenus describes it as “body shaming,” disliking the way it perpetuates the view that a person’s worth is tied up in their appearance. Jellybean51 says “who wants to watch a fit buff man telling a large woman to push the pain and see her dissolve into tears and throw up....I think this is awful.”

You highlight a difference between reality shows where contestants are on TV merely for the sake of being on TV, and reality shows where contestants actually do something. Suzukisue says “I prefer reality shows that are interesting and informative, where I could maybe learn something, e.g. Great Australian Bake Off or Masterchef etc”

You have more time for these shows, in which contestants actually need to have a talent, as well as those which can be informative – e.g. cooking and renovation shows. And not everyone hates reality TV – for many it is a guilty pleasure! According to one or two of you, it’s uncool to enjoy watching them......but you do anyway!

Anonymous
  • 10th Mar 2014 12:40am

I believe that its a really good thing, but also its a bad thing, in most cases its good because they help people but at the same time they put that much stress on couples that most of them end up breaking up also they do things in an unhealthy manner that impacts on the health of the contestants in some shows, like with the biggest loser, they get people to lose weight very quickly and then once they stop doing the show they end up back how they were or worse because they aren't getting pushed or doing the work outs constantly, and rushing to lose weight that quickly is extremely bad on the body


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