I was channel surfing the other day, and flicked onto the beginning of a show that caught my attention, at least for a little while.
They were talking about a race. It turns out that I was watching the opening sequence of a "reality" show called The Amazing Race. I'll admit, I just turned it off when I realized what it was. You see, I have a deep, intense dislike (OK, hatred) of "reality" shows.
To start with, reality television is definitely not reality. From the genesis of the genre with MTV's Real World, to the plethora of shows out today, not one of them has anything to do with any aspect of real life. They are television, and television is make-believe, and it's that simple. I know, because I used to watch these shows a lot. Until I realised that they were all alike.
This show about the amazing race was no different. A bunch of people are put into a completely unreal situation, and made to do unreal things in order to get out of it. The only thing "real" about it is the lack of a shooting script, and from the opening sequence, I am not sure that there isn't a shooting script...
And the one thing that show is not about, anyway, is any kind of race or real competition. And if you've been following this blog, you'll know by now that my interest in racing, of any sort, is really my interest in competition, and the internal drive to exceed one's limits.
I'll talk more about that next time.
No Comments/Trackbacks for this post yet...