It's eight o'clock and I'm flipping through the channels on my television to see what's on. There are three shows that stick out to me. They all do well in the rating department, with each consistently scoring a 2.0-3.0. They are: Dr Phil, Teen Mom, and the Bad Girls Club. Now they all have their own separate issues. You could argue that Teen Mom glorifies teen pregnancy, and cite multiple problems with the Bad Girls club. I'm not going to focus on that, however. What I will focus on is the fact that all these shows focus on other people's problems and issues. And we love it. It doesn't stop there, either. There are more popular shows like MTV's "True Life" and "The Hills", and of course the ultra-popular "Jersey Shore". Then there's what is commonly referred to as "trash tv", which include shows like Maury, Jerry Springer, and The Steve Wilkos Show. Although these shows transcend a wide range of genres, they all share a common bond. They all get good ratings because we love to take pleasure from other people's pain.
One show I'd like to focus on in particular is the previously mentioned "Maury" show. For over a decade now, this show has garnered huge ratings by dramatizing paternity and relationship troubles. Now Maury himself may be a nice guy, but the fact of the matter is that he gets paid to exploit people's issues. Yet it continues to be a daytime staple. And why is that? Why do we take pleasure from other people's pain? It's because it makes us feel better about ourselves when we have something else to look down on. Harsh.
Just to give you an example of what I'm getting at, look at the reaction of the studio audience during some of these programs. On the "Maury" show in particular, the audience will boo and mock the show's guests. During one specific episode, they brought on several people with unusual fears. Did they help them? Sure, but just helping them isn't good tv. They also mocked them, laughed at them, and scared the hell out of them for much of the program. I also mentioned the Steve Wilkos Show. This is essentially a program where Steve Wilkos, a former soldier and policeman, brings someone on and completely berates them for an hour. His audience isn't as boisterous as Maury's, but even just the self-righteous nodding and chants of "Steeeeve" they use to pile on a guest is disconcerting. You'll see that same sort of thing on what is considered a more "sophisticated" show in Dr. Phil.
The bottom line is that much of American society enjoys watching others fight, yell, and struggle through issues, both for their own personal enjoyment, and in order to boost their own self-esteem. Sounds horrible, but it's true. We enjoy drama, especially other people's drama. We are, indeed, more vicious than you may have thought.
http://tvbythenumbers.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maury_(TV_series)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wilkos_Show
2 comments:
I agree with what you're saying about boosting our self esteem by watching these shows. It embarrasses the people on the show which makes viewers like it more. Like you said, we enjoy other peoples drama because it gives us some kind of satisfaction. I think the reason a lot of people love shows like "Maury" is because they may have gone through something similar and feel a connection. I agree with what you said about the makers of the show just being in it for the money and not to actually help the guests on the show.
"You are not the father.(man is jumoing up and down screaming in joy, while the woman is crying because she doesn't know who the father of her child is.) What has this world come to? We put these things on national television so that they will be humiliated for the rest of their lives. Sounds good right???? Maybe for a stations ratings, but not for the human beings that are put through the torture of being yelled at constantly by the crazy fans looking to have fun. I totally agree with you about all of these reality shows being inhumane, its just mest up. Things need to change, or else soon people will be put in a house together for the summer and recorded 24-7 so that americans can get entertained. Ohhh wait, there are already shows like Jersey Shore, Real World, and most of the reality shows on VH1. What has this world come to?????
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