Values Portrayed in Popular Media

Values Portrayed In Popular Media

Over the course of my lifetime, I have sat in front of the television on many occasions. I have watched shows like Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Who's the Boss, and Growing Pains. As an adolescent growing up, I definitely learned several valuable lessons from each of the scenarios that were acted out each week. Now, as an adult, I can look back and appreciate each of the lessons I learned. I look at what is being displayed now, and I am disappointed. Does reality television have an impact on the morals of today's youth? I believe it has a significant impact. The morals and values displayed in reality television are edited and the producers are irresponsible in the manner of which they are displayed.

Dr. David Drew Pinsky has stated that "reality television is boon to social structure and caring" (OSullivan, 2010). Over the years, several sitcoms that have tried laid the groundwork for moral and ethical behavior. Many of the scenarios displayed on television have come from real life issues. Networks were able to share these scenes with audiences in a positive manner. Now, Hollywood is filming "Reality" and giving the youth of today, a different perspective on how everyday dilemmas should be handled.

Unfortunately, too many viewers believe what they see on reality television to be a factual representation of life today. After all, it is named reality television. Producers glamorize amoral behavior selling the idea that bad is better. The youth of this generation idolizes the reality TV stars wanting to emulate these bad behaviors. Teenagers do not understand that these shows are scripted, fake and unrealistic regardless of it name. Reality shows make their own, rather different, claims to be pictures of reality; one of the appeals of this kind of program is that it provides topics for conversation and reflection in which people speculate about the dilemmas facing the characters. "Audiences relate them to their own experiences and values, and use them to reach moral judgments about human behavior" (Jones, 2002). All they see are average Joes becoming superstars all the while partying, drinking themselves unconscious and even getting arrested with no negative consequences.

The producers do not show what it is like to be deathly ill from alcohol poisoning, the fear involved with being arrested or the real consequences that could come with having a one night stand. It is just fun, fun, fun and who would not want that? Producers are capitalizing on the ignorance that comes along with youth as well as the fact that viewers have been desensitized over the years to amoral behaviors in general. Reality television is a multi-million dollar industry and it does not seem to matter that this type of television is a leading cause of the moral and ethical decay in this country.

This country has taken the lead from celebrity actions over the years. Through celebrity endorsements in advertisement, society has been guided on what to eat, drink, and even what to wear. Now everyday people that have been selected to appear on reality shows are giving us a different voice to listen to. In 1991, two films by the names of Boys n the Hood and New Jack City were released. Both led to some instances of shooting that immediately followed people leaving the cinema. It was said that some of the viewers were inclined to violent acts after viewing the films which portrayed violence (Berman, 1992). It is easy to see how television can have that same influence over its viewers.

Reality television has become a major part of television programming in the industry today. I have to wonder why the networks are choosing to go with reality shows as opposed to traditional sitcoms. "Reality shows cost an average of $400,000 per hour to produce versus two million for a dramatic series" (Hibberd, 2002). With this vastly less expensive option and the ratings for reality programming going through the roof, every network that wants to continue doing business feels the need to market new reality shows and somehow keep America begging for more; so far this plan is working. In the process of making these shows, the producers are failing to ask themselves if they should make them.

Gerbner's cultivation theory seeks to explain the connection between the programming viewers watch and their perceived reality (O' Guinn, Shrum, 1997). "The more people watch television, and hence are exposed to these distortions of reality, the more they will come to view the real world as similar to the world portrayed on television and thus perceive a greater real-world incidence of the over-represented entities." (O' Guinn, Shrum, 1997) As reality TV continues to portray a cavalier attitude as it pertains to drinking, drugs, casual sex, and disrespect towards adults, more and more of today's youth will continue to be mislead on how they should behave.

The ripple effects of reality TV can be traced all the way back to the grandfather of them all. "An American Family" was a 12-week Public Broadcasting System (PBS) documentary-style series that aired in 1973 and chronicled the lives of the Loud family of Santa Barbara, California. (Rorke, 2011) The Loud family was supposed to be a model family (the reason PBS chose them); the documentary managed to pull the curtain back so all could see just how dysfunctional they truly were. Over the course of 12 weeks, the number of viewers grew to 10 million. By today's standards, that is not that much, but it was very surprising back in 1973. It took a long time for the leaders of Hollywood to return to reality TV, the country was not ready to accept a lot of the real life issues to be displayed on television. When the Loud family was filmed, the producers had no idea that the oldest son in the family was flamboyant homosexual. That, among other sensitive issues, is what American viewers kept tuning in for each week.

The irony of all of this, the Loud family was already breaking apart. That raises the question, "Did the producers already know?" America was in a time of holistic family values, several issues were kept off of television. By filming a documentary, the producers could then deny responsibility for what was caught on film. This lone idea is what was recognized and abused later when reality TV made its way back to the television line up. The envelope was pushed wide open when reality TV came back in 1992. The Music Television (MTV) channel began to air the "Real World"; a show that brought a variety of your adults into a house in New York City, NY to have their lives filmed. It would depict them going out and having fun at night clubs, coming home and having more fun, and sometimes