"The Believing and Doubting Game" : Reality television is an important part of American culture

I believe that reality television is an important part of American culture, because it is both an expressive form of art and an important showcase for other parts of American culture. Reality television allows the culture of average Americans to be recorded and seen. Also, it seems to have an important influence on what a large number of Americans think, believe, and like. This influence is strongly seen in the youth culture of America. A large number of teenagers and college students have watched “The Real World” and other MTV reality shows since they were created, and it seems to have greatly influenced youth culture. Young people take an interest in seeing real people living their lives, and some even develop on emotional investment with the cast members. The enormous success of reality television speaks to the importance of it to American culture. Other forms of entertainment have developed from reality television, and its continued success seems to support the idea that it has filled a niche that Americans have taken an interest in.

Reality television is not an important part of American culture, because much of it has deteriorated to the point where it is not even a true expression of reality. It is now evident that much of what was believed to be reality television was actually scripted and edited to the point of nearly resembling a scripted show. Reality television can actually be detrimental to young people and even adults who take it too seriously, and look to reality television as something real that they can relate to. Many people find reality television to be a poor form of expression and something that should be removed from American culture. Cast members of reality television are typically poor role models, and their own lives are usually affected negatively by the portrayal of them on their show. Often producers use cast members just to make money and then leave them to pick up the pieces of their lives. Something that has such a negative effect on both cast members’ and viewers’ lives cannot be an important or positive part of American culture.