Really?

The news here lately is gotten repetitive and annoying.  I’m tired of arguments about everything and definitely not interested in the royal baby.  I mean I like babies and all, but a baby is a baby.  When it’s yours it’s thrilling.  When it’s your grandchild it’s thrilling.  Maybe even a niece, nephew, close friend…..the royal couple is none of those things to me.  So let’s talk about reality. 

That is, reality as in virtual and TV shows.  As I recall, vaguely, from the mandatory Philosophy course I took in college, there has been a lot of discussion over the years about reality and what is it anyway.  That’s confusing enough for my non-stretchable brain matter; I decided to come up with my own acceptable idea of what is real and what is the universe anyway.  Reality is what I see, hear and feel; the older I get I’m sure my reality gets more and more debatable, but that’s the way it has to be.  As far as the universe goes, it makes me dizzy to just try to imagine it being either terminal or never-ending.

Virtual reality is almost easier to understand—it’s really just being in someone else’s imagination.  I’ve never worn one of those goggle things I’ve seen pictures of (I’m sure I’d be back with the dizzy thing again—it takes me a couple of weeks to adjust to new eyeglasses), but I do get lost in 3-D movies so I’m thinking it’s similar.  “Reality” TV—now that’s another matter altogether.

First of all the name “Reality TV” is an oxymoron.  If it’s recorded for the purpose of other people watching it on a screen at home it’s clearly NOT reality.  Reality is what you do in your own  environment—work, school, the battlefield, home, even Disneyworld.  People act pretty darn real when they’re waiting on line for attractions at Disneyworld.   I don’t exactly remember Heisenberg’s Uncertainty principle, but I’m pretty sure it’s along the lines of “once you examine something, under a microscope or whatever, the thing itself changes because you’re looking at it” (I looked it up and there’s a lot of physics-type words in the definition but it’s still pretty close).  Psychological or anthropological studies that form conclusions based on observing a group of people are automatically invalid because they are changing the group’s reactions by studying them.

With me so far? (If not, you can stop reading now because I’m not going to get any clearer).   So Big Brother, Survivor and Amazing Race are far removed from reality.  I would prefer a fictionalized account of a group of strangers thrown together to make a reality TV show, because it would at least have a plot.   But don’t confuse Reality TV with non-fiction or documentary recordings.  Those are intentionally constructed and edited to relay information, hopefully of some actual value and artistic merit.  Compare and contrast with “Honey Boo Boo”. 

Maybe it’s not fair for me to even comment, since I don’t watch those shows.  It just seems to me that watching Honey Boo Boo has the same appeal as watching a train wreck—but much less attractive.   Someone please tell me why they call them “Beauty” pageants.  I’m positive that if I put makeup and tiaras on my dogs (even little one-eyed Johnny) they would be much more appealing to look at (no guys, I really wouldn’t, I promise!).