(The script of the speech of Lyka which she prepared but I just injected some pointers).I feel blessed with another magnificent day today, having you in this forum of interaction. But first off, may I greet everyone a pleasant day as I relate a simple story.
This morning, when I woke up, a weird question wildly struck my mind: What if all of my actions, I mean every action, or even non-actions, like my taking a bath, the details of my participation in class, or pushing aside fellow commuters just to catch a ride to school on time, and everything, 24/7, were video-taped and shown on TV with thousands viewers watching?
They will discover who I am because the scenes reflect how I behave in situations which I myself created or encounter. Pictures or videos do not lie, simply because I acted naturally. Such videos shown on TV would be realistic because they are actual, free, spontaneous and natural account of my own actions and reactions.
If, however, I portray coached actions, then the video maybe entertaining but are not exactly my personal natural actions and reactions. While they may have semblance of reality, they are in truth and in fact, created as illusions of reality, courtesy of rotating lenses, editing and other port-production techniques.
Respected audience: What am referring to here is about Reality Television, or commongly called as reality shows. Let me get this straight: The term reality shows could be a misnomer. Why misnomer? Reality television frequently portrays a a modified and highly influenced form of reality, utilizing sensationalism to attract viewers and so to generate advertising profits, revealed by some sources. Since it is a misnomer, there is that element of falsehood! They being sensationalized for profits, reality shows also offer a promise of fame and fortune for the actors who have the capability "to act in specific scripted ways".
The genre has wide range of programming, like game or contest shows such as the Amazing Race, and the so-called voyeurism-focused productions, such as the Big Brother. Winners tend to be overwhelmed by their "15-minutes of fame" and soon go too far, for worse. There are celebrity reality shows, like the Keeping up with the Kardashians, which are basically for publicity. There are also the dating reality shows, such as the Bachelor Show, that gives a false sense of reality like possible rejection on TV.
True, reality shows are entertainment, but the concept of entertainment should not be myopic. The acts and episodes, when informative and realistic are persuasive, and what is persuasive is the realistic. When what is real is shown, it is a reality show. They create lessons to be learned because real is not artificial, and what is real has credible signification. This makes a reality show different from the other shows. We should only learn from what is real.
Let me quote what Kim Kardashian said in one episode of the Keeping Up With The Kardashians: "I always have a plan, and right now, I don't have a plan". Televiewers are supposed to relate themselves to situations and try to learn something. If it does, the show is educational, have morals. But Kim quibbled fancy words to entertain, no lessons to learn.
Often, reality shows are dangerous because of the vulgar words the actors use. Thus, they impress upon the young viewers that such words are not the societal norms. Studio audience and viewers are also made to vote for the actors, thus giving them also an impression that what they are doing is good, notwithstanding not real. Motivated by fame and more profits, actors tend to do more fancy acts, and are labelled as reality show.
In summary, respected audience: Reality shows are tricks upon us. It is the new genre of entertainment. Simply, a show. They next time you watch on TV a so-called reality show, blink your eyes, and say: It is no different; it is a sensationalized, moral-less show, for fame and money. The usual charade or showbiz.
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