Sunday, June 9, 2013

Rituals and Stereotypes in Misleading Reality TV


People are always going to be misled and misunderstood. It is up to everyone to make the decisions of steering away from the false impressions. There are common rituals and stereotypes in society that are good and bad. Reality television can be misleading through rituals and stereotypes.
Reality shows that fall under this criteria of false impressions is The Housewives of Orange County, Atlanta, New Jersey, and New York City. On all of the different Housewives shows there are many common rituals. One ritual entails the theory of all women getting together and going out to dinner and going on trips. It gives viewers the impression that all these people are friends and this makes viewers believe that these things are happening even when the cameras are not rolling. Based on after shows, the ladies describe there is mostly more fighting and no contact when the cameras are not around. Because they do not so these things when the cameras are off, the common ritual of constantly going to dinners together is not a true experience of reality.
The Housewives are trying to show how life is in certain cities. They become a representation for those cities. People who watch Orange County Housewives get the impression most people are blonde with plastic surgery and filled with drama and fighting. This misleads people and can alter someone decisions to ever a visit a place like Orange County. Even though it may be a beautiful place, people who have viewed this show and don’t like it may stereotype he rest of the people in the city as being dramatic and rude.
By addressing these situations it is evident that viewing rituals and learning stereotypes about reality television is easily misunderstood. It is reminding me to not judge people and places unless I have met them or visited a place myself. I enjoy watching reality television but I also know that it is not truly real and that things are definitely altered for entertainment. 

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