by Rayne Britt

Created on: June 08, 2009

Ah, the wonderful train wreck that is reality television. What started with shows like The Real World has led us to what are, in essence, a mix of drama and game show. This is especially true of shows involving celebrities such as Dancing with the Stars or I'm a Celebrity; Get me out of Here. They can be entertaining, but a guy like me sits there thinking "Oh my God, who watches this? Why am I watching this? Make it stop! Must...turn...channel." But I simply can't. I cannot look away until I know who lost the most weight, what famous person does the best cha-cha, or what will happen to the whiny brats trying to survive in the jungle. How we went from seven strangers living together in a house (which I couldn't stand watching) to ten famous people living together in the jungle (which I can't stop watching) I haven't quite figured out. But what I do know is that I am terribly appalled at myself for watching.

I recently figured out why it is I should feel such shame for watching this drivel: namely, I watch it because I want people to fail. I want to see who gets injured, who gets voted off, and mostly, I want to see some sort of wild, ferocious animal gnaw Spencer Pratt to death. That is what makes me ashamed. It isn't one of my finer qualities. I am not watching to cheer for them; I'm watching to see them fail miserably and make fools of themselves, preferably injuring themselves in the process.

This is particularly true in the shows involving celebrities. I don't care if they can dance, eat bugs, juggle or do anything else. I just want them to be unsuccessful at something. If it is something I can't do well, then I feel good because I feel if they can't do it well, it is no big deal if I can't. And if it is something I am great at then that is even better because then I am better at them than something. How often can you say you are better at something than a gold-medal Olympian or an actor or multi-millionaire?

I am no psychologist, but I am fairly certain that this behavior probably isn't a healthy thing. What is almost as equally sad is the people making these shows don't care if it is healthy as long as I tune in every week to see who can't sing, dance, or eat a jungle bug. They don't care if I'm pulling for them as long as it gets them ratings.

With that said, I'm going to go hide in a corner somewhere in my shame...until 8pm EST when my shows start.

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