Lucas Ichnoski: Reality TV

Whether we like to admit it, we all at one point watched, or still do watch, reality TV. I for one, still watch it, however not as much as I used to. The behavior of the people on the shows can range from  serious people to people who just want to have fun and party. To me, this is what grabs peoples attention to watch. If there seems to be a lot of partying, a lot of romance, or a lot of drama that's going to make good TV, of course producers are going to show that over things that don't bring a lot of attention.
I dont think that the way some people are portrayed on the show is how they truly act in real life, away from the cameras. Can you just imagine having a camera following you around for a month? Id bet on it that for at least the first week you wouldn't act like yourself, or how you would act around close friends.

I don't believe these shows accurately reflect society; however, I think society is influenced by these shows. Not all people in a given area are party people, whereas not all people are raging hotheads that get angry over petty things. It just so happens that all the people cast on shows like "The Real World" or "Jersey Shore" are. When people watch these shows and see others partying 24/7 on every episode, they might assume that "being a party girl" or something like that could make them a shoe-in for one of the future seasons. This influences those people to constantly party on the weekends to fit that role just to have their airtime if they were to get cast for one of these shows, ultimately making it a lot less "real." As much as I would hate to say it, reality TV shows do seem to make everyday people famous nowadays.

Most issues presented in the show are usually pointless drunken drama, which again, brings in viewers. However, some other issues presented, although not as much, are things along the lines of sexual orientation, trying to find a persons biological parents, etc.
Below is a video of one of the top rated Real World seasons in the past couple of years. It just so happens there was a lot of (drunken) drama, relationships, and some real issues being presented.