Real Housewives of DC?
Ice Road Truckers?
Sarah Palin’s Alaska? <—Barf
Blood Dolphins?
It’s nearly impossible nowadays to click through channels without landing on some sort of “reality TV” show. Do you find yourself identifying with the “real people” on television? Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV, a new book by Jennifer Pozner, takes a critical look at the ever growing genre challenging The Situation. The book is also supported by a snarky website with Reality TV drinking games and media literacy materials.
“What does it mean to be female in America? According to reality television, women in general are golddiggers, bimbos, and bitches, and women of color are violent, “low class” whores. Straight, single gals are pathetic losers and, we’re led to believe, it’s hilarious when they get mocked, dumped, or punched in the face. And even during the worst financial crisis since the Depression, it’s “important” to blow a year’s salary on bridal gowns, couture clothes, and luxury vacations. Throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century, our most popular form of media has erased all signs that the women’s rights, civil rights movement, and gay and lesbian rights movements ever occurred.”
Disclaimer: Jennifer Pozner is a good friend of mine. She and I have been working on media reform issues for many years. Turning off your TV is not a solution for bad content. You can take back your television by knowing the facts.
Some questionable content digested in anticipation of this book:
Real Housewives of DC
Real Housewives of Atlanta
Real Housewives of Jersey
Real Housewives of NY
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
Girls Next Door
Ice Truckers
LA Ink
Millionaire Matchmaker
Intervention
Hoarders: Buried Alive
Kate Plus 8
Top Chef
Project Runway
Sister Wives
Wife Swap
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2010.