No, I don't want to know how drunk someone allegedly in Rehab is

[hyphenate]

I have nothing but disdain for women who sell their souls for monetary compensation,
I don't want to see a tough old biddy swearing at her customers at a roadhouse,
I don't want to know who pawns what and why,
I don't give a crap about someone who doesn't even know she's pregnant,
I don't want to see repo men taking someone's car, and getting beaten up as a result,
I don't care about who's stupid enough to do stunts that even professional stuntmen wouldn't consider,
I have no patience for someone who is drunk and driving and is caught at the wheel,
I have no desire to see idiots trying to steal vehicles right under the cops' noses,
I have little regard for people who try to put their heads into a crocodile's mouth,
I have no desire to watch someone strike oil, considering how fucked up our country is from those who worship it,
I can feel nothing but contempt for those who try to exploit mentally handicapped people who hoard,
I shed no tears over those who kill the innocent,
I don't really give a damn about all the lunatics who are being given far more than their 15 minutes of fame.

Reality--or actuality as one network calls it--sucks.



Yes, not all of these shows feed on the unhealthy aspects of life, but I'll be damned if I will show any kind of lurid fascination with it all. Count me out when it comes to "reality TV."

[WillParkinson]

1. Sing it!

I get weird looks at work when I tell people I don't watch American Idol. I don't watch Survivor and I sure as heck don't want to see Jersey Shore or whatever it's called.

To some people that's high entertainment (as opposed to those who just find it entertaining.) It seems to consume their lives.

[HEyHEY]

2. Yeah, if I want reality I'll turn OFF the TV.

[Ishoutandscream2]

19. A-freakin-Men.

I deal with enough reality, thank you. As do we all.

[suninvited]

3. I like Pawn Stars

The stuff that comes in the door is fascinating and more like items you would expect to see on antique road show then on a show about a pawn shop.

Certainly no ordinary pawn shop. And I like Rick.

[gvstn]

20. Rick seems like a decent guy

And you can learn the history of some of the more obscure objects and what they are worth. Much like Antiques Roadshow.

Perhaps not highbrow viewing but a tad more informative than the History Channel's shows on the Loch Ness monster.

As far as all the 15 minutes of fame reality shows I agree that they are a waste of airwaves and personally miss actual dramas on teevee.

[hippywife]

4. I don't watch any TV except PBS on occasion, however

I do still have some compassion for the flawed human condition. These people didn't wake up one day and say, "Hey! I think I'll go totally fuck up my life."

No one sells their body or becomes an alcoholic or drug addict because they want to. :shrug:

[Chan790]

5. I'd debate the first one.

I know and am friends with more than a few people who put themselves through college or make a living working as a prostitute, pornographic model or a sex-worker and none of them were to my knowledge compelled to it, they chose to work in that line of work. They set their own hours, their own rate of pay, they alone decide what they will or will-not do, what clients they won't service, they possess full-control of their work life and the commoditization of their labor. For the most part, they actively enjoy their work. If freely chosen and entered into, working in the sex-trade is one of the most empowering decisions a person can make...it's also one of the least-discriminatory, there is a market for every variation, "quirk" or "defect" you can imagine.

Not to say there are not problems in that industry but much like the criminality surrounding marijuana, that criminality largely results from criminalization and/or widespread-illegality.

And no, since every time I defend it as a valid career choice someone asks, I don't frequent prostitutes. I worked briefly as a bondage instructor...lots of nice clothed middle-aged couples in a nice clean classroom setting learning. That's how I met most of these people...professionals buy their condoms, lube and gaffing-tape at {Redacted business name, I don't know that they'd like the free advertisement. They already get harassed plenty} just like lots of normals do, the same place I bought course materials.

[hippywife]

6. I'd say that has become

a fairly recent choice, not entirely, but more widespread than ever before. And I do believe there is still something flawed deep down in someone who would endanger themselves in so many different ways by doing so.

[Haole Girl]

7. "...women who sell their souls..."?

:wtf:

Are you living in the 18th century??

If anybody could use a dose of reality, it's YOU!

Maybe you don't realize how easily a person can end up living the kind of life they never thought imaginable. One bad decision, running away from home at a young age, trusting the wrong people....

Maybe you should work in a homeless shelter, rehab clinic, or just open your eyes to the world around you-- the REAL world.

And this is a progressive message board? Unbelievable. :-(

[hippywife]

8. Well said, Haole Girl.

One thing that irritates the fuck outta me is people who think that everyone has the abilities to live "normally" just because they can and do.

:hug:

[hyphenate]

12. Well, I hate when people

try to literally put words in my mouth around here, and try to psychoanalyze me without even a single fact to work with.

I think people who do try to do that are no different than a good portion of the GOP, who stopped the whole government in 2005 over Terri Schaivo. If people can remember, Bill Frist decided that Terri was mentally alert by diagnosing her from a video--something that proved not only that Frist himself was a quack, but a dangerous quack!

As far as "living normally," what do you consider normal? There are as many different definitions of "normal" as there are people. How would you know, unless you were a personal friend, that I was "normal" even under the best of circumstances? And BTW, I don't fit into that neat and tidy definition--I was an adopted child, I had a high IQ, I had two heart attacks when I was just 43, which is unique for a woman. I went to an all girls' school, never have been married, and have liked science fiction and fantasy since I was about 10. Those facts alone make me anything "average" or "normal."

It is this kind of posting which shows that snap judgements, usually without validity, are becoming one of the reasons why DU has changed so much, and not for the better. Not quite what some people might think of as personal attacks, which they are, however, but certainly without any kind of foundation or merit.

[hyphenate]

11. The funny thing is

I didn't write that thinking of sex workers or prostitutes--I wrote it thinking of the girls on Rehab, just like the first item I mention, the idiots on shows like Rehab. They don't sell their bodies, they sell the image of women as lovers. There is a big difference.

I think you missed the point of the post in general, as I was mainly ranting about the over-abundance of reality shows that pollute our airwaves, which bring so many more loonytoons to prominence. You might need to adjust your mock indignation-o-meter just a tad.

[petronius]

9. I notice you left out the modeling show - should we assume that you're in fact desparately eager

to know who the next top model will be? Or is that the women who sell their souls... :)

[hyphenate]

14. You got it on the first try!

:lol

I don't see any show on prostitution on TV, but there are quite a few of them showing women as objects. That's what I dont' like very much.

No, I don't watch any of the modeling shows, the "talent" shows, the bachelor or bachelourette shows, the dancing shows, the top poker shows, or anything that makes Americans look like freaks. (Like the Duggars, Octomom or Jon+Kate Gosselin shows)

Some of them might be highly entertaining--variety shows have been on for over 60 years, dancing and modelling shows have also been on long before the current surge of simply bad television. Shoot, I finally got a dream TV for myself back in March, and it's off more than it's on! This season, if I watch more than a total of 10 shows a week, I'd have to stop and think what they were.

OTOH, I do watch Keith O and Rachel Maddow, but I think of them as news, not "reality" shows like those above.

[blueamy66]

10. Then don't watch.

Life happens.

[hyphenate]

17. Yes, it goes on.

I just wanted to express, in a conversational fashion, my frustration about all the "reality" TV that are on. It started with the shows TruTV has picked up, like "Ma's Roadhouse" which I feel is incredibly tacky, "Rehab" which looks idiotic, and the "Repo" one--there are actually a couple of "Repo" shows now on the air. The only thing I used to watch on what used to be CourtTV (now TruTV) are the episodes of "Forensic Files." They're based on real life murders, and they show the meticulous forensic work that helps them catch the murderers. It was better suited for "CourtTV," though. considering some of the garbage that is shown now.

[panader0]

13. What? You wanna be culturally illiterate?

<sarcasm>

[hyphenate]

15. I'm over 50 now

so I don't fall into the demographic which shows tend to pander to--the 18-49 year olds who allegedly spend more money.

Which makes me useless to the advertisers, or so it's thought. :)

[panader0]

16. What's so bullshitty about those shows is that they pretend to be

reality shows. Except for the camera guys and the light guys and sound people and directors telling you what to do.

[hyphenate]

18. Yes

I remember Survivor a couple of years back where they were, I believe, in the Australian outback (or someplace near it) and they slaughtered a boar. I remember that the guy who allegedly did the killing suddenly "fell ill" and was removed from the show, after there was a very loud protest by all animal lovers about the boar, because it was domesticated, not wild, as what was said. You have to wonder what actually happened, and decide based on letters, emails, and all kind of reading between the lines.

They say they go after "unscripted" shows, but that is, definitely a load of crap.