Cover

Steven Curtis
Chapman
by Ryan Richardson

Transforming
the Male Mind
by Warwick Cooper

Bring 'em
Back Alive
by Ryan Richardson

Promise Keepers
by David Chipp-Smith

Health & Fitness
by Jeff Consiglio

Not So Reality TV
by David Chipp-Smith

First Commandment
by Aaron Rock

Revolution
by Ryan Richardson

God's Promises
Part I
by Colin Michael

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by David Chipp-Smith

Reality T.V: You can't go anywhere these days without hearing people talk about what happened the night before on the latest installment of the latest reality show. From Survivor (aren't they on Survivor 18?) to The Bachelor and it's many spoofs to American Idol, reality T.V. has caught on in a major way throughout North America. But is it really REALITY?

How many of us have been sent to a deserted area in the world with a dozen or so strangers and forced to compete for a million dollars? Or how many of us have the chance to meet 25 beautiful women and forced to pick a potential wife from that lot? How many of us have had the opportunity to audition to become the next singing sensation? No one?? Doesn't sound like reality to me. What about the latest spoof of American Idol where they pump up the worst singers only to dash their hopes and dreams when they realize it is all a joke? Reality? Not likely. And for what? For a few fleeting minutes of fame and a few dollars. People will basically do anything for their 15 minutes of fame.

Minimizing Marriage

From The Bachelor to Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire to Who wants to marry my Dad, the networks continue to demean and minimize marriage. They have taken a holy institution and brought it down to a practice of who can manipulate the other one first to make it to the next round. Or the networks throw in a 'twist' where one person has a chance to manipulate another to make them fall in love to win a million dollars. Yet we as a society wonder why marriage has been trivialized. Have you seen the numbers that these shows bring in on a weekly basis? It is staggering. We keep asking ourselves why we have an increase in the divorce rate and why marriage is no longer considered a holy institution. Have we ever considered the effect that these shows have on society?

Decline of Morals

Take a bunch of strangers with very different personalities, throw them in close quarters out of touch with the rest of society - either in a house or a deserted area in the world - oh, and don't forget to mention that there is a large monetary prize for the person who lies, cheats and manipulates those around them the best and 'survives' the show. What do shows like Big Brother and Survivor teach us? They preach that being dishonest and two-faced to others is the only way to get ahead. And we wonder why there is such a decline in the moral values of society. That is a sad commentary on today's society to say the least. According to a recent study released by the Parents Television Council, the amount of bleeped words per hour on these reality shows increased by 276% since a study released in 2000 while sexual content rose by 169%. To read the complete study, go to this article on ParentsTV.org. In a show called Meet My Folks, parents choose the person that their son/daughter will take on a weekend trip. How wholesome is that? Parents literally 'pimping' their kids out for a chance of 15 minutes of fame and a handful of cash. Nothing like wholesome family viewing.

Have we really evolved?

We look back in history to the Roman Empire where the original "Reality Shows" were shown every night - the gladiator battles and the sacrifices of the Christians to the lions. We look at those spectacles and call people of those times barbarians. I have even heard someone state 'thankfully we have evolved as a society and we don't have those types of spectacles anymore.' Really? Can we really say that? O.K. people don't really physically die in these shows, but what about emotionally? What about the psychological effects of the contestants on these shows after they have been humiliated in front of millions of people? Now these reality shows have at least one psychologist on staff after the suicide of a contestant on the Swedish version of Survivor after they were voted off the show. How about the trust of people after they believed what people say to them to get ahead? Do you honestly think they will be that trusting again? Have you ever thought to yourself when watching these shows that the manipulator reminds you of someone you come in contact with on a daily basis? Yet we continue to watch people get used and abused emotionally and sometimes physically in order to win fleeting fame and a few dollars. Sometimes I wonder how far is too far. Have we really changed from the days of the people calling out for the blood of the gladiators?

Closing

The point that I am trying to get across here is that we need to be extremely careful with what kind of shows we are allowing into our houses and if Reality T.V. is really all it states it is. How often have you seen the different situations that these contestants have been put in in your daily life? Chances are you have not. Yet they tout it as reality. We need to remember that as christians, we need to be careful about what we watch. After all, it is not art that imitates life, but maybe life that imitates art.


David Chipp-Smith is the owner of Family Media, a company that is committed to helping families raise the standards in their homes through filtering devices from both television and internet. He is also an activist for more family friendly television. For more information on Family Media visit www.myfamilymedia.ca.