My childhood friend's college besty won Rock of Love.
I took classes with a girl who made it to the 3rd round in American Idol.
My college gal pal was on the audition episode of You're The One That I Want.
I'm not trying to impress you.
No, I'm actually just balking at some facts about my friends that make me painfully aware of how addicted we are, as a culture, to reality television. The great minds of yesteryear were reading great literature by candlelight and we sprawl on our sofas for hours of The Bachelor and A Shot Of Love With Tila Tequila. (Yes, I have been transfixed by episodes of both. I plead guilty. They are fascinatingly sad.) The supermarket aisles remind me that these shows are anything but real with their bubble letter headlines on The Hills. And as reality programming takes over the tube we become more discerning critics, finding holes in all our now-familiar favorites. Yet, we keep coming back. And reality programming multiplies before our eyes. Literally. Despite the fact that we know it's not even real. (Well, all except Intervention. That show is just rock solid.)
How far will our obsession with unreal "reality" go?
Well, I turned on the computer tonight (where YouTube has the internet market cornered) and, upon checking election coverage, heaved a sigh of disappointment. The drama, the name calling, and the mudslinging will continue. And as real drama unfolds around us (Myanmar, anyone?) we will instead tune into...
Uh oh!
Real reality TV.
No! Could it be?! Obama and Clinton have done an excellent job campaigning through the new and popular forms of media; they are featured on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, maintain blogs, and make sassy appearances on comedy shows and in honky tonk bars. In light of this mass reality addiction, is it possible their teams got together and decided to launch the ultimate reality extravaganza?! The numbers over the last few months certainly seem to have been manipulated by producers eager to ride the ratings as long as possible.
You couldn't have found two better reality stars: the sleek, sly, powerful minx Hillary Clinton and the hopeful, grinning, young hero Barack Obama. I can hear it now.
Voice Over: Barack and Hillary battle to make history. Tune into see who will be the last man, or woman, standing to fight John McCain to be the most powerful person in the world.
Only it isn't a voice over. Or, well, sometimes it is. Turn on any vintage reality TV show (otherwise known as "The News") and you're sure to hear similar lines. Every day a new episode airs. And sometimes you half expect someone to get their hair pulled! Reality programming at its finest.
The parallel is easy. In the supermarket aisles, right next to headlines on Heidi and Spencer you'll find the latest gossip on Hillary and Barack. And, at a time when the airwaves are dominated by cat fights, betrayals, and gossip, is it really that far fetched to wonder if the whole thing really is rigged by some smarmy cigar smoking producer?
Things sure have changed since Franklin Delano made the presidential television debut back in 1939. Now, almost seventy years later, viewers wait in anticipation of who America will choose to give the final rose.
(As for the Republicans, their show, featuring John, Mitt, Mike, Rudy, and Ron was cancelled due to low ratings.)
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