My Rant

If reality TV is the "he said, she said" equivalent of "Professional" Wrestling, then what does the genre offer? Define spectacle as a postmodern event and what psychological or social needs spectacle fulfills particularly through the genre (or genres) of reality TV.

If all arguments are presented to a specific audience, and reality TV is trying to convince its audience of something, who is the audience and what is it trying to convince them of? Does it depend on the premise of each show, or is there also a message being delivered across the genre?

Part I:
Remember the days of the original Survivor? Richard got naked and Susan was a bitch? Good stuff. This recent reality crap is awful. Have you seen "Juvies?" if not, don't. It's awful. Anyway, life is too short to watch the sheer amount of junk that is on TV anymore. I get my fill of south park and family guy, watch whatever scrubs I can, and turn the thing off. That's really the best way, I think, to make sure that you don't spend all your time at the TV. And you avoid a lot of bad influences that way. Paris Hilton should die a horrible death.

Part II:

The genre of reality TV offers entertainment. That is all. There is no underlying, deep meaning. It's cheap, low quality, mindless television. It doesn't reflect on real life -- there's no correlation between binge drinking every night and having an actual job. It's not the same as real life, despite its misleading label. The idea of "spectacle" is just that. It's an attention grabber. Shock value. It's media's new toy to grab audiences by the cahones and twist. MTV has a show out now called Scarred. It's a show about kids who have done stupid things and hurt themselves in the process. They show the wounds. It's horrendous.
Personally, spectacle does not hold appeal to me. I don't enjoy watching people scream profanities, hurt themselves, or consume things that should not be consumed. I suppose, in some sects of society, this shock value could be considered humorous or entertaining, but I cannot believe that spectacle "fulfills social needs."
There is no message in reality TV except for this: "Give us your time and money." There is no underlying tone. There is no educational value to watching reality TV. Reality TV isn't an argument, nor is it attempting to convince anyone of anything, except maybe the fact that Americans enjoy mindless TV.