by Shawna Blake

Created on: March 15, 2008

With the description of the word 'reality', it would suggest that the footage that is being taped and shown is in fact real. Seemingly, this is not so, as the majority of reality shows employ 'personalities' that we find to be familiar faces. The cause of this, of course is that we have indeed seen many of these people before, on other reality shows. The word reality is a bit tricky, as it leads us to believe that all circumstances are truths. However, with the amount of competition with the hundreds of reality-dubbed offerings, these shows must find some way of staying abreast of the competition. Thus, a bit of fiction is applied. If we sit down and muse upon it, we have never actually been told that the reality shows are real. What we know is that they are entertaining and laced with drama, and the flair of attitudes.

Currently, channels that air biographical or documentary programs have begun to describe their programming as 'actuality', in lieu of reality. This is because the shows that are featured are actual factual instances that are being recounted. This insinuates that reality is not real at all, but fake. Reality TV is akin to the old Jerry Springer panel debates; were those people putting us on, or did that gal's mother really sleep with her boyfriend? In the beginning, when the very first reality shows were introduced, they were in fact very real. MTV's 'The Real World' is a prime example of such. "The true story about what happens when seven strangers are picked to live together, and things get real." We would find it hard to believe that it is all reality these days.

The perfect example may be of the 'stars' of shows like 'The Real World'. These people travel around the globe making appearances at various functions, getting paid to do so. Most of these people go on to star in more than one reality show. They are reality show jumpers, and have gotten good at acting in these measly parts. Often, a career gained from one small bit part. Searching the internet or web, including myspace, you will find these personalities and learn much more about them than you might have anticipated.

In season 2 of VH-1's 'Rock of Love', there are six remaining women. Four of these six have either starred in previous reality shows, or have a hand in the skin-flick business. Usually, during the course of one of these shows, any contestant that has had prior experience with fame finds themselves in elimination, because they are there for the wrong reasons. it seems that

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