Many people find their evenings consumed by watching reality television which can include anything from a game show to a camera following around a group of people. Reality television stars live a life of luxury and glitz which includes spending a day at the spa nearly every episode. These people have perfect houses with perfect families and there is always lots of drama.
Many people watch these shows and wish that they lived a similar lifestyle and, frankly, it makes them feel bad about themselves. These shows seem to cause people to forget what great lives they live and how fortunate they are to lead the lives that they do. While these shows portray a lifestyle that many people lust over let's take a closer look to see if it is really that "real."
Let's look at "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" or "The Real Housewives of Orange County" or "The Real Housewives of New York." The main difference between these shows is that the different casts of Housewives have different accents. For the most part, all of these women live in beautiful houses, drive beautiful cars and wear beautiful clothing.
If you have watched these reunion shows a phrase you would hear a lot is "That was only when we were filming" or "That never happened when we were filming." These statements occur mostly when the women are arguing which leads a viewer to wonder whether this is really their life or just a show.
The women spend a lot of time with their children, most of which is off camera. It becomes evident that their lives are less glamorous than what is portrayed. If you really consider it, you could find thirty minutes of exciting activity a week in your life. And, if all you showed your viewers was that activity they would want to live your life, too!
The reality series that younger people seem to relate to better would be "The Hills" and "The City." Looking back with hindsight, you may observe that many of these episodes were spent in the club or at lunch or even having a meeting about Heidi and Spencer. After watching the season finale of "The Hills" and seeing that the show was really staged many viewers felt that all of their dreams of living in LA, going to fashion school and hanging out with fabulous friends was much further out of reach than it had seemed before.
If producers are going to stage the perfect lifestyle of an early twenties-fashion star they should include more excitement. One might even go as far as to think that maybe producers are not as creative as they use to be. In order for a show to be interesting it has to come across as real because it is not interesting enough to be fiction.
Most of us have real lives that far exceed any reality lifestyle that is portrayed by adding value to our communities, schools and families. It is important to not forget that. To all those who wish for a lifestyle that includes unreal glitz and glam, think again. Be grateful for what you have because the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
