What is it about reality shows that we secretly love and publicly loathe at the same time? It’s a modern-day guilty pleasure but we often ask ourselves who in the world would watch these senseless shows? The unfortunate answer is... a whole lot of people. Celebrating stupidity through mainstream media just seems to be the norm, but I personally cannot justify it. The formula for reality shows is rather simple: TV networks know exactly how to feed on the basic voyeuristic need of the common viewer. Networks know that the cheapest way to grab attention is to produce a “reality show” with no stars that is supposedly unscripted, but in reality, it is very much scripted content. So what exactly are we teaching the young generation? That they could very well be rewarded for bad behaviour?

Years ago, drinking, getting arrested or compromising on your morals could land you in major trouble with parents, the law and society but now chances are that you may land a reality show with a major TV network. One reason why reality TV shows have negatively impacted society is the way that these shows uphold bad morals, which is true for most reality shows like ‘16 and pregnant’, ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ or ’Jersey Shore’.

Every day, people who have no apparent talent are roped in to sell their pride, privacy and dignity to boost ratings for a handsome fee. Reality TV generally has to go negative to increase ratings. If we look at a traditionally-scripted crime show, what happens is that there is a moral compass to the program, the villain gets arrested, goes to jail and we all learn that being a criminal is wrong. However, nowadays the star of the show that behaves the worst gets more airtime. Again, it goes without saying that not all reality shows come under this vicious canopy. I do agree that it is not the job of the media to enlighten or educate our young ones, but the media just like the government, holds a significant moral duty to educate the public and exercise some restraint when it comes to viewing such mindless programs. In short, reality TV is like a spoon of bitter medicine.

— Jerin Jacob is an Indian business development manager based in Ajman