Reality Televison

To begin this blog, I decided to Google "what is reality television?" The definition provide by Google is: "televisions programs in which real people are continuously filmed, designed to be entertaining rather than informative." This definition applies very well to reality television today. The people that star on reality shows assume a character and attempt to be the most obnoxious person to be in the limelight and gain popularity. The people that star in these shows were once ordinary people but now are portraying a character in fit in with the theme of the show and its title. One of the most popular shows is Jersey Shore, which ran on MTV from December 2009 to December 2012. The show features eight housemates that are brought together in Seaside Heights, NJ to party and act crazy. The shows has been met with large amounts of controversy regarding portrayals of Italian-American stereotypes and scrutiny from locals that Seaside Heights is not like the people portrayed on the show. However, the show was met with a large viewing audience and continued throughout all seasons. The first season was labeled as the best because as the show went on, the stars became the characters they were portraying. They began to act more ridiculous than the first season.
 One of the most popular characters was Mike "Situation" Sorrentino. He would use his physic to pick up woman at the bar and clubs, and hook up with them. This caught the interest of many teenage boys who wanted to be like him and live that lifestyle. The "Situation" is a male dominant figure that is over-portrayed in the show with the excessive gym sessions, tanning, laundry, drinking, and dancing. The women that he catches the attention of are show to be submissive to him. They praise Sorrentino and objectify themselves to gain his attention. Overall, the show caught on with viewers in the beginning that wanted to replicate that lifestyle but as the show went on, viewers grew tired of the reality TV aspect to Jersey Shore. It was entertaining in the beginning but then grew boring as the show became outrageous and more scripted.