E.D.I Blogs (Part.5) REALITY T.V. (What’s Real Got to Do With It?)

In the 70’s Bill Loud and his wife allowed PBS and its cameras to follow his family for a Documentary called “An American Family”. It’s considered to be the template for todays “reality T.V.” shows. In their present form, they are a huge TV cash cow with milk to spare. It seems a new one pops up every season. I guess this is what it’s come to ya’ll…Our Lives are so boring, we will sit around and watch somebody else’s boring life. From the Kardashians to the Jacksons (minus Mike and Janet) they have all been under the glaring eye of the “reality” viewing public. They come in all shapes sizes and colors too. They are everywhere, on every channel. You got Basketball Wives who aren’t even married, “Real” Atlanta Housewives who…need I say more? It started maybe, 20 some odd years ago with “The Real World”. Others think  “Cops” was the first, who cares right? All that matters is that we are now infested with this B.S. A couple years ago a producer from a major network contacted me about doing one about us and our lives. They wanted to film 12 hours a day starting at 8am and film EVERYTHING. Obviously we declined. Never mind the intrusiveness of it all, they wanted to keep control over the final product and pay us a salary… Sorry my life is not for sale! But for the right price, many give up their privacy and sometimes their sanity for a piece of fame. Andy Warhol said “In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes..” I don’t think he knew how right he would be. The everyday average joe can become a star, overnight now-a-days. The days of struggling to make it big are long gone. Why move to LA or N.Y., work tables, live in a shitty apartment, eat Top Ramen when all you have to do, is do something outrages on you tube or even with your Iphone and sit back and watch the offers role in. Trust me, make a big enough ass of yourself and somebody will exploit it. I have to admit I have watched a few shows hear and there (wink). I mean who can resist the fuckery of the “Bad Girls Club”? Theses broads do more to set woman back than strippers or pornstars. But it’s like watching a bad wreck, you can’t take your eyes off of it. The camera guys and editors make sure you see enough “skin” to keep you interested and the drunken stupor most of them maintain due to the free booze provided by the show.


Poor Kris Humphries, The guy didn’t stand a chance. I’m sure he expected to get real famous fuckin with Kim. I’m almost positive he looked at some of the other NBA players who have dabbled in the “reality” TV world and thought… “Shit, why not?” (In my best Kris Humphries voice) Not knowing or caring that Kim is a professional. Her mom’s is about that guap and he…well he is really tall and I heard the air gets thinner the higher you go.
RayJ made her famous (Kim). HE had his own show and tried to help big sis’s swan diving career, but his moms was the real star of that show! I even heard Suge Knight might be doing one. This I gotta see. Can you imagine Suge having brunch with Dereck J discussing plans for a benefit dinner…Oh wait…I’m getting my shows mixed up! You see what this shit does to you! I don’t think reality shows will last for too much longer though. I mean most of this shit we have now is totally scripted “reality”. For those still blind, peep this. Anytime you have multiple camera angles and cuts (editing), it took time to set all that up so it makes sense to you the viewer. So how “real” can it be? If your having a heated argument with your arch nemesis in the house you and 6 others share, do you stop if the lightings not right? To me, this is all a snapshot of todays society. When historians look back at these times, they will surmise “the people of the day where self absorbed humans who would stop at nothing to gain fame and notoriety. There seemed to be no known level lower enough for some of them to stoop to in efforts to achieve the goal of stardom!”
Growing up, I was a big fan of the group Public Enemy. They had a song off the seminal Platinum selling album “It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back”, called “Channel Zero”.  (youngins go youtube it NOW! Lol) For my 30 plus crew we know…A whole lotta of us watchin channel zero everyday. SMH.

SALUTE.
 
P.S. NBA season is BACK! Couch potatoes are in heaven wit me….AMEN. GO LAKERS! And Knicks…when they aint playin the LAKERS! Holla.