I’m tired of seeing reality shows about weddings on my list of television viewing options. I think it would be far more beneficial to everyone if the TV networks would advertise the atrocities of divorce.
Through oh-so-educational reality TV, I’ve learned that weddings are nothing more than big tantrum-ridden greed fests where everyone gets to dress up real pretty and the bride and the groom get presents. Honestly, I can’t believe men still propose! But then, perhaps these shows are partially to blame for the recently published stats showing a decline in marriage.
I’m relatively convinced that most of the couples who choose the option of televised matrimonial mayhem will get divorced. Probably soon. I haven’t watched a ton of these shows, so I don’t know for sure… but, I haven’t seen any of the showcased couples speak of goals more substantial than attire, location and stationary.
That being said, I think America needs a good old-fashioned reality show to teach us that divorce is often a long tantrum-ridden greed fest where nobody can afford to dress up and presents come in the form of condolences. Perhaps such a display would prompt people to think twice about getting married in the first place… or at least make rational decisions during divorce proceedings.
Seriously, after seeing all the gory details on TV, who in their right mind is gonna think “Mailing old sex tapes to your ex’s boss is a great idea!” or “It makes perfect sense to spend $50,000 in order to get another $5,000 from the house!” or even, “What I want most is for my kids to learn what it means to hate.”
(Of course, something tells me that my brilliant idea wouldn’t work out the way I planned. Given the monetary compensation and pseudo-celebrityism associated with reality TV, I’m sure the networks would received thousands of pleas from fed-up spouses promising to be The Most Excruciating Ex Ever, if given a chance to strut their stuff on camera. Oh… that’s very sad. And it’s probably true.)
I’ve never been able to ‘get into’ reality shows. I think the term itself is an oxymoron. They’re anything but real.
I guess that I have a very hard time suspending belief that they’re acting ‘normal’. With a camera around, and ratings involved, who can believe that they’re not simply acting for the camera and the promise of cash?
You nailed it, monetary compensation and the celebritism that comes along with it. Besides, they now have made for years of new episodes as the relationship crashes and burns under the weight of the audiences expectations.
I’d rather see a wedding show that followed couples through a couples course that got them to talk about kids, money, religion, work etc … I think that would be eye-opening for viewers and might actually help educate people about what is really involved in marriage.
That’s a much better idea! “an ounce of prevention…”. Televising a more realistic approach to marriage would be much more effective in altering the expectations of the viewers.