Are reality shows really taking advantage of you?

Kai Huntt, a sophomore at the NYC iSchool, watching a clip of Keeping Up With the Kardashians during advisory.

Kai Huntt, a sophomore at the NYC iSchool, watching a clip of Keeping Up With the Kardashians during advisory.

Daniela Lopez, Copy Editor

Reality shows have become increasingly popular for teenagers and young adults throughout the past couple of years. Whether Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Dance Moms, Catfish or the Real Housewives are playing on TV, they capture millions and millions of people’s attention. The majority of all episodes contain drama from the most insignificant scenes to the most important ones. As a result, people become very intrigued towards the cast and the show itself.  

Even though reality shows captivate the lives of ordinary people at entertaining moments, they’re not completely unplanned. Many scenes in reality shows are scripted because without enough drama, there’s not enough entertainment to keep the audience captivated. Their original purpose was to film the lives of ordinary people -so did reality shows lose their original purpose? Are they just taking advantage of their audience for fame and money? Fans of reality shows and people who do not watch these shows have different opinions on the matter.

Ms. Glass, a U.S. History teacher at the iSchool, watches several reality shows such as The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Keeping Up With the Kardashians sometimes. Even though she understands that reality shows are known to be trifling, she states, “There’s a point to them and entertainment is their primary purpose. There’s also reality shows based on makeovers, as well as health and business.” As a result, people would have the opportunity to promote products and themselves while earning money.

When asking her if she believes the cast on reality shows should be praised for their so-called talent, she said, “Most people are probably pretty boring. If you can find a way to captivate an audience and have people watch you and talk about you, I think that takes a lot of talent.” She agrees that if you want to make money, you should go for it and enjoy the fame.

Similarly, Rossy Cabrera, a freshman who enjoys watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Rob & Chyna, thinks reality shows are pointless but “it’s fun to see the drama and see people crying and mad.”

She understands that the cast members take advantage of the audience with many scripted scenes in order to gain fame and money. However, she doesn’t care because she “likes watching the drama and knowing what’s happening.” Ultimately, the fact that reality shows are extremely amusing for the audience, blocks out the fact that these fake scenes are not really reality.

On the contrary, Zoe Justiniano, a sophomore, watches reality shows sometimes but it depends on what’s playing on TV. Even though she occasionally watches some of them, she admitted that “they’re pointless because there aren’t really any lessons given and it’s just a bunch of women fighting because that’s what ratings want.”

Unlike Ms. Glass, Zoe believes that the cast shouldn’t be praised for their “talent” because “they don’t have talent and it’s just a camera following them around unless they’re being undocumented for the actual work they’re doing such as in Love & Hip Hop.”
So if reality shows are becoming more scripted by the day in order to be portrayed as more dramatic, have they lost their sense of purpose? Are they actually taking advantage of people for more fame and money earned? It all depends on the audience to make up their mind about it and decide whether they still want to continue watching these types of shows.