Whether it's Jersey Shore or Keeping up with the Kardashians, there is always some form of reality TV on. But, how "real" are these shows?
MTV hit reality show The Hills was watched by millions of young girls wanting to one day have the fabulous life of Lauren Conrad. After being on air for 6 seasons the show came to an end with a shocking season finale. The last scene was shown to be shot in a Hollywood production set with the characters clearly acting out the final minutes of the show we all grew to love. So what does this mean? They didn't come out and say that it was completely fake, but it was definitely implied.
After Kim Kardashian's infamous 72 day marriage many questioned if she had done it for ratings. The obvious facts are that she did do a 4 hour special on her nuptials and the next season of her show focused on the troubles the young couple had.
So why are we so attached to these shows? What is it about them that makes us watch every week to find out the obvious? I mean, we all knew Kim and Kayne were dating. We all knew that Lauren would be present at Heidi and Spenser's wedding. What was it about seeing it on TV that made it "official"?
The minds of Hollywood producers don't focus on giving us something we don't already know, rather they want us to know what is behind it. After Lamar Odom was let go from the Dallas Mavericks earlier this year everyone wanted to know what was going through his head at the time, and the only way to know was watching Khloe & Lamar, which conveniently filmed the whole thing.
While many of these reality shows are heavily criticized, truth is these personalities are laughing themselves all the way to the bank.
Forbes reported that Kim Kardashian made 18 million last year. Snooki made 4 million. Who knew staring in a sex tape and being a raging alcoholic could make you rich? Truth is, we love watching it happen. I will admit that I love seeing Kim K crying on TV because she doesn't look like the perfect women who is on the cover of the hottest magazine. When Snooki got arrested, we were all thinking it was hilarious and she deserved it.
As long as reality TV has people watching it, it will never go away. It may not be "real", but the more we want to know about people's lives, the more they are going to let us in.
