Reality television is almost as old as TV itself. One of the first modern reality shows was The Real World on MTV. If you look at television in 2019 much of the programming is reality TV shows. You have shows that range from the lives of housewives to bootleggers running illegal booze. Many people watch these shows to see how other people are living. In truth the only reality show that should matter to anyone is the one they star in everyday. It may be fun to watch how a pawnbroker swindles an old lady or watch some bounty hunter chase a felon. What is more entertaining is living and enjoying your life, creating your own reality show. I do not mean with cameras and a producer, but living your life for you. Many people spend a lot of time looking at other people’s lives and not paying any attention to their own. This is one reason many people seek an outlet for their miserable lives through TV or drugs and alcohol. Honestly ask yourself, “What do I have in common with the people in this reality show?” Better yet, “How is this enhancing my life?” If you find yourself racing home to see how someone else is living then you may need to check yourself. Is your life so boring that you have to invest your time and energy to see how someone else is living? Reality TV is usually a show about plain everyday people, so why are you looking up to them? One of the craziest shows I saw advertised was about some bootleggers in Tennessee. Why would someone in Milwaukee or even Kalamazoo care about a hillbilly making illegal booze? In the movie Harrison Bergeron TV was designed to keep people dumbed down. One of the shows depicted in the movie was a guy talking to a plumber similar to a 2019 reality TV show. This was dummy TV for a society that wore bands on their heads to prevent them from thinking and focusing. Last I checked people in the USA were not wearing thought-preventing bands on their heads, so why are they so obsessed with dummy TV? It is simple; people are giving their lives away. Many people have accepted the situations they have created for themselves and see no way out. People would rather spend time watching how high-priced harlots live than to live their life. The lack of imagination that is permeating society makes it easy to keep the masses mentally occupied. A reality show doesn’t take much imagination to create, just some cameras and a person to follow. Reality TV also helps the miserable masses accept their plight by showing others who are in similar conditions. Misery seeks company. The solution is for people to cut off the TV show and look at their reality. No one is too far-gone to make some sort of change. A change in thought is one of the most powerful things a person can do. If a person spends more time focusing on their life, positive results will follow. The same goes for the sports fanatic who lives their life through sport heroes they may never meet. Channel your energy into thoughts and actions that make your life more pleasurable. Your energy and thoughts are invaluable, so why give either away cheaply? Your life is your reality show. Will you take the time to create a show that you enjoy? Or will you choose to keep living through some other person’s life on TV while dropping Valiums and drinking vodka?
Frank James IV © 2019
beingfrankwithfrank@gmail.com
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the writer and not of the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper or NCON Communication, its staff or management. “Being Frank” is a bi-weekly column exclusive to the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper.