Reality Television

It's hard to believe the last decade has been all about reality TV. Whether it was a show to showcase a person's talent or lifestyle as Americans we love reality television. We turn on the tv so we don't miss a thing and TiVo our favorite shows when we need to.

As for me I enjoy shows like deadliest catch and the family reality series. I especially enjoyed "19 Kids and Counting" & "Jon & Kate plus 8". Large families interest me coming from a big family myself .
After the Gosselin family was cancelled I wondered if the show itself could of been damaging to the sextuplets since they were filmed most of their lives since birth. The Gosselin twins could escape the cameras since they attended school but the sextuplets could not escape for a few years. Every milestone of the six was viewed on TLC. Family life, vacations and the divorce boosted ratings. What should of been a private family matter was discussed on the air or in magazines.

The first time the show was stopped was because Jon Gosselin felt it was detrimental to the children's well being. The six younger children missed the production staff and the cameras. To them this was normal. In a way it reminded me of The Truman Show.

" Once a judge granted Kate Gosselin primary guardianship of the eight children filming resumed and Jon was no longer part of the show. After awhile the show was eventually cancelled. An interesting quote from The Truman Show.... Christof: We've become bored with watching actors give us phony emotions. We are tired of pyrotechnics and special effects. While the world he inhabits is, in some respects, counterfeit, there's nothing fake about Truman himself. No scripts, no cue cards. It isn't always Shakespeare, but it's genuine. It's a life. "

Who would have guessed a movie made in 1998 would resemble what our TV shows would become? To me the constant intrusion would be aggravating in itself and cause a hostile situation but it was a sad situation when the children missed this exploitation. Nobody knew that Jon was living in the apartment above the garage until his infidelity got into the tabloids. TLC had already stopped filming Jon and Kate together but the viewers were clueless. Once their problems were exposed we all witnessed the beginning of a messy divorce with each adult smearing the other parent. Another reality family may soon face divorce...the Roloff family. Matt and Amy recently announced they are no longer living in the house together although he is still living on the property. The shows themselves didn't cause the marriages to fall apart but what should be a private issue became a part of what we call entertainment.