Celebri-taint

Ok, so I'll admit that I am a fairly big fan of crappy reality television. I know it's not educational, I know it does nothing for my mind, and most of the time I know it's only borderline entertaining. However, I am very easily entertained, and seem to be oddly transfixed by these cheesy, sleazy shows that seem extremely prevalent in this day and age.

I like competitive shows like American Idol, Dance With the Stars, Last Comic Standing, and Groomer Has It. I also really enjoy reality TV shows that don't seem to have any real purpose, such as Millionaire Matchmaker, Bridezillas, and even Redneck Weddings though I cringe at the irony of Tom Arnold poking fun at some of the couples. I watch reality shows on pretty much every major network and most cable channels, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

The only shows I'm really not into watching, though I have seen a few episodes of each, are those about the families popping out more children than is advisable. I used to be a fan of Jon and Kate, back before they had a multi-million dollar house and he still had a job and she acted like she liked him once in a while. I have seen the Duggars, and while they seem wholesome and very unlike my family, the cynic in me wonders how long it is before they have traded in their family values for cash. So far, I have liked the episode or two I've seen of Table for Twelve, but again, I have to think it's only a matter of time before they realize they can make a lot of money off their children and suddenly they aren't who they used to be anymore.

All of that being said, I really don't consider the "stars" of these shows- or any other shows where the people aren't acting, singing or otherwise expected to have some semblance of talent- to be celebrities. I have no problem if a family chooses to capitalize on the fact that they've managed to pop out more children than is advisable, however, when their half hour is over, I don't think any more about them. Clearly that is not true of the rest of the populace, though, since headlines in all of the rags at the supermarket checkout and most of the banners on the websites I browse through are chock full of the comings and goings of these people that aren't aired on their shows.

I get that they have invited the cameras into their homes and lives, and are susceptible to more criticism than most people. I also understand how viewers feel like they know the characters on these shows because they watch their families so often and have been invited for so long into their homes. However, I think we all tend to lose sight of the fact that while it might not be completely scripted and defined, it is still edited and they're completely aware of the fact that the cameras are there.

If Jon Gosselin wants to go hang out with a bunch of coeds, I really don't care. That's really up to him and Kate. Six years or so ago, he and Kate would have been the only ones to even know about it, and the whole thing wouldn't have gotten blown completely out of proportion. Likewise, if Paris Hilton wants to start using some completely asinine catch phrase, I don't particularly care to walk around saying it just because the rest of America seems to think it's cool. She's rich and pampered, certainly, but that doesn't automatically make her the foremost authority on all things fabulous. People magazine doesn't get to tell me who is beautiful, no matter how many copies they sell annually- I simply refuse to believe that we are so stupid we can not tell for ourselves that Richard Gere is gorgeous and we need a glossy rag to tell us that.

I don't feel pity for these so-called stars, but I do feel annoyed that they become famous and then whine at how much privacy they've lost. Well, no kidding! There's a price to be paid for all that fortune, and that price is not being able to fight with your husband in private, or get angry with your mother and not have the world think you're headed to rehab or have an eating disorder. If you can handle that kind of pressure, sign yourself up for a new show. If you can't, you don't get to become rich, take vacations, quit your job, go on tour, and basically make a career out of being famous for simply existing and then whine about how famous you've become.

I'd do the whole reality TV thing in a heartbeat, but after they got done bleeping everything out, the show would be terribly boring. Watching us watch M*A*S*H doesn't really make compelling television. That's why we tune in to reality TV in the first place- we'd like to believe that somewhere someone has a more exciting life than our own- or in some cases, we like to feel a little bit better about our own.