Just how unreal is "reality" TV? Reality TV writer reveals all.

I decided to write a blog on this subject, because reality TV plays a major (contributing) role in pop culture. Most of us know and have known that reality TV shows are total bullshit, but I don't think we know  how fake they really are. I found an article on one of my favorite websites, XOJane, anonymously written by someone who works as a reality TV writer. The article is called "I Write As a Writer For Reality Shows---Here's the Deal." http://www.xojane.com/entertainment/i-worked-as-a-writer-for-reality-shows-heres-the-deal

In the article, the author talks about some of the things that go into writing reality TV shows, what's scripted & what's not. This author says that the people in reality TV shows are real, normal people, but the situations aren't real. The "star" of the show is found first, then the rest of the show is built around them. Some of the character's entourage or group of friends are their actual friends and some are hired. People and/or situations are planted and the actors know what kind of events are going to happen, before they happen.

The author goes on to point out a few particularly well scripted shows, like "Storage Wars," "Duck Dynasty," "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," "Millionaire Matchmaker,"and "Pawn Stars." I thought this article was eye-opening, because I knew a lot of reality shows were scripted to an extent, but I didn't realize that even the customers that walk into a store are fake and most of the friendships aren't real.

This article is just a reminder that while watching these shows to remember that they are fake and that they shouldn't be examples of what happens in real life and how people actually are. We need to be more selective in the TV that we watch and realize that by watching these types of shows, we're supporting their ideals and telling producers that them feeding us this crap is ok. It's not.

Thanks,
Zenobia Murphy