Reality Bytes…Worse than a dog

The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own.
Susan Sontag


Sitting in your living room after a hectic day of work, browsing through your television for something to refresh your over stressed nerves; all you get is a sneak peek in the life and activities of a dozen of unemployed wanna be celebrities who are caged in an in studio dungeon and aired on national television. On an optimistic note, you might find talent hunt shows, aired every season on almost all General Entertainment Channels (GEC), but the amusement lies in the fact that every show claims to be the biggest thing on Indian television and every winner is claimed to be the next Mohammed Rafi or Kishore Kumar, while reality asserts that most of these singers, winning a show on reality television bubble out by the next season.
It was in the 90’s when AXN was home to programs which had a ‘dare’ or a stunt in them, these days anyone remotely related to media & entertainment can be a Khiladi.

Indian cinema has always been under attack for “cut-copy-paste” from western cinema but cinema’s poor cousin television is following the same trend. Almost all the reality shows on Indian television have an inspirational muse running in Europe or America. One talent hunt show went on to such an extent of idol worshiping the original American show that it shamelessly copied their typography and background score. One reality show imported everything from a show running in another country and replaced the word Brother with Boss.

Gone are the days of Hum Log where our own family values and system were projected on the small screen, The days of Buniyaad talking about the partition of India to a generation which was not a witness to it or the days of Ramyaan and Mahabharat on Indian television when our mythology served as basis for inspiration. Reality television was not a nuisance initially when Mr. Amitabh Bachchan graced the small screen with Kaun Banega Crorepati, even this program was based on a program in America but it had intellectual content to offer to the audience unlike some reality shows which go on to the extent of vulgar skin show and allow unparliamentarily language.
We as educated viewers must question ourselves that what are we feeding our and our children’s mind with?
Is this the content that will lay unconscious building blocks of the personality of the future generation?

Reality television with its cancerous growth, has penetrated 24 hour news channels which are already suffering from lack of content, news channels should ideally to telecast political, world or sports news employs programs with stand up comedians to fill its afternoon slots. As I write this article I can overhear the television in my living room and more than words, beeps are audible; needless to say an abusive BOSS is at work!

Only that thing sells which has a demand, unfortunately GEC’s target our baser passion and tickle our gossip bones. To look at the flip side, the lack of programs with a right balance of information and entertainment is lacking. Media ethics has remained a much debatable topic but we must transcend beyond debate initiate action. If junk food is bad for health, junk information and entertainment can also have its adverse effects on our mental and intellectual well being as well. This article will serve its purpose fully only if the readers attest these views by boycotting these intellectually hollow programs.