The Unhealthiest Obsessions

http://www.slashfood.com/2011/04/28/tabloid-paula-deen-hiding-diabetes/

One of my many guilty pleasures when it comes to television would be just about anything on the Food Network or Travel Channel. Their laundry lists of shows that depict our country’s glutinous demeanor are, like South Park parodied, in a strange way similar to pornography. We watch these shows to fulfill some strange void, although watching people demolish unimaginably delicious food doesn’t benefit me in any way, but instead just leaves me severely hungry at eccentric times of the night. There has been a recent news leak/rumor that Paula Deen, known for Paula’s Best Dishes and other Food Network classics, was diagnosed with diabetes. Hopefully it is no more than a rumor for the sake of her health, but it is interesting to see the result of her success. Paula’s personality is that of a sweet Southern mother, and watching her make meals out of essentially pure grease and sugar makes my taste buds quiver and my internal organs gag. Is it a problem that her show has continued despite these rumors, and despite the fact that her lifestyle (if it does really consist of these meals) is extremely dangerous? Or should her enjoyment for good food and ignorance of major health issues speak for itself? In a way Paula Deen getting diabetes is very symbolic of our current popular culture. We live in an era of excess and overexposure, where in order for a woman like Paula Deen to thrive she is forced to constantly create over the top meals to cater to our fascination with food. Over the few seasons of Travel channel’s Man vs. Food you can almost feel Adam’s health deteriorating, and it is visible in his appearance. If, and hopefully when, our country grows out of his phase of obesity will these shows continue their dominance major network’s or will they die as the country diets? It will be interesting to see what the future holds for them, and the disturbed viewers like me who can’t get enough. Best wishes to Paula. – C.S.

The Reality in Reality TV

On VH1, there is a reality show called Basketball Wives that just finished their 2nd season. Basketball Wives is primarily about the ex- wives/ ex- girlfriends, with the exception of a few, of current and former NBA players. Throughout the years, VH1's shows has become majority reality shows. Personally, I love it. I think that I have become an addict. However, reflecting on the amount of reality shows I watch, it bothers me that shows such as this are so popular. The element that I think that makes these reality shows so appealing is the level of drama. For example, on this past season of Basketball Wives, the season ended with a fight between the ex- girlfriend of Antoine Walker, Evelyn Lazado and the ex- wife of Kenny Anderson, Tami Roman. The fight was because Tami found out that Evelyn had slept with Kenny Anderson while him and Tami were married. Evelyn told Tami "You were a non- motherf**king factor B***h!" Evelyn got so much publicity for saying that to Tami, and the first thing I heard from people when talking about the show was what Evelyn said to Tami. People loved Evelyn for this. I admit, at first, I found it to be funny and cute at first also, until I realized how something that childish and manipulative the whole situation was. Instead of people showing sympathy toward Tami, who just found out that a woman that she has grown to like and become close to has slept with her husband while they were married. This began to disturb me because I thought of the situation Tami must have been in, and how she felt when Evelyn said that to her. She had to have been hurt. If this is what TV has come to, I am afraid to see what reality shows and TV in general would be like 15 years from now. In the future, I would not want my daughter to see something like this on TV and think it is OK to behave in that way.

I think that I will continue to be a loyal reality show viewer, but I just hope that the direction of reality shows would steer in a more positive direction. Is this possible?

-AP

Bridal Nasty

E! takes reality TV to another level. In the show Bridal Plasty 12 brides to be battle it out for plastic surgery procedures and the ultimate prize is an all expense paid for wedding. It is not until the day of the wedding that the winning bride is revealed to her groom and loved ones. My personal opinion is that this is a horrible concept for a reality television show because producers are encouraging that these individuals morph into someone else through unnecessary procedures. I believe that plastic surgery is only necessary if someone has experienced a horrific accident and as result becomes dramatically disfigured. In addition, the brides are risking a lot not only when it comes to the medical procedures that they have done, but they could also be setting themselves up for disappointment. For example, once the bride attains the procedure that she desires there is no guarantee that she will be fully satisfied with it. This show raises the controversial question of whether the media is impacting or simply reflecting moral issues. In this case, it is the perception of what beauty is. The women who are on the show should be satisfied with the idea that they have found their significant other who accepts them for who they truly are rather than focusing on who they would rather be appearance wise.

Reality shows = Spin of Reality Shows

This is a preview for E!’s new reality show Khloe & Lamar. They are a married couple. Lamar plays for the L.A. Lakers and Khloe is a reality TV star. Her IMDB list would include Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami and Keeping Up with the Kardashians; The Wedding Special.

I understand my clip is just another reality show showcasing produced by E!, involving a Kardashian or two. However, these girls, E and Ryan Seacrest have managed to continue to produce multiple show seasons, spin-offs and TV-specials based on the members of the Kardashian family. They have been successful with this business now for many years in terms of the reality television timeline.

This clip is simply an example of how reality TV has

A.Taken over television entertainment as a whole

and

B. Reality shows are giving ideas for other reality shows, based off of characters from the original reality show. With Surreal Life, Jersey Shore, 16 & Pregnant and Keeping Up With the Kardashians, whoever is the most popular, seems to get their own show once the original is off-season. The Bachelor became the Bachelorette. Surreal Life created Flavor of Love. I feel as though there is no end to this madness.

A.S.

Not So Smart "Bad" Girls

Start clip at 8:41 & end at 9:45

So I have a guilty addiction to the oxygen hit Bad Girls Club. It seems to be the only show that is bringing revenue to the network if you ask me. However, people are watching this for all the wrong reasons. When the show first began, the point was to put these women who had “bad” attitudes into the same house. They were supposed to become changed by the experience of being put in the house with women like them. I don’t really know how this was supposed to work, but for the first two seasons it seemed to. Now, women just get exploited by willingly going on this show looking for fame, when really all they receive is negative attention. The comments in the chat rooms and on the youtube videos are always harsh and disrespectful. I always have to wonder whether or not it’s deserved because they do put themselves in that situation. I can’t help but wonder if they see that they are being exploited. In the above clip, the producers of the show have taken a conversation the girls were having about grammar and aired it making them look like total idiots. Then the question of, how much of reality is in reality television, comes to mind. The producers know what audiences will watch and I feel that they tell the participants of the show to behave in that manner. I have heard of many instances when characters on reality shows turn out to be just that, characters. But how much of yourself will you give away for 15 minutes of fame?

Hey Y'all, Welcome to MCS 271

Just wanted to drop everyone a hello.  Check out my other blog linked to D2L to see an example of what I'm looking for. Ben and I will also be contributing to the blog, so check us out on this blog to see the kinds of posts we're looking for.  Remember, you don't necessarily have to use the readings for your blog entries. Just make sure that you are critical in your observations of the media. This doesn't mean you are criticizing the media, rather than you're thinking about it. This could be about aesthetics, text, ideology, ownership, etc.  For example, tonight I watched the newest episode of the Biggest Loser. I could address the show in various ways.  How does it show men differently than women.  The show has CRAZY product placement.  How does that speak to the rise of reality television?  I could discuss the overall racial makeup of the show, the stories that are chosen by producers to highlight each participant, etc.  Any such topics would be critical.  In short, just take some time to think about the stuff you're watching, listening to, etc.