Blog 16

As I wrap up my blogging sessions I thought for my last one I would give an all opinionated blog of my viewpoint on reality television. I had fun writing these blogs and sharing information about reality television over the course of the semester, I really hope you enjoyed reading some facts and all the rumors that we are always dying to know about! I also would like to say I enjoyed reading everybody’s blogs; they were all well written and interesting topics.
I’m going to start out with what bugs me the most on reality television shows. I really can’t stand all the reality shows about love and finding love and blah blah blah! You cannot not go on TV and find someone within a month the person you want to be with for the rest of your life, it’s crazy and definitely not plausible but these people somehow like to think that love can only be found on TV. The girls on some of these shows really irk me. Whenever I’m watching a reality show about love, the girls are always bawling telling the cameras how much she loves this guy or even another girl.
I would have to say one of my favorite reality shows would be Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I really enjoy watching this show because there are no fake people involved and it’s for a great cause. Ty and the others are helping families in desperate need of a new home. They get sent on a vacation which normally they can’t afford while the group and families in the neighborhood help redo the entire house. They have 7 days to completely fix up the house. I think I also enjoy watching the show is because the finish product of the houses are incredibly nice, and I have always loved to go to open house and see different house with the interior decorating.
I have a mixture of feelings towards reality TV shows, there are some that are great and there are some that should never be seen again. Hope you all enjoyed this semester!

Blog 15

This week’s blog I decided to talk about reality shows that are trying to find these people love. The amount of reality shows based on love is ridiculous; you can’t meet someone for the first time and know each other for about what like a month? And believe you are in love with them.
Age of love, it plays on NBC but I have never seen or heard of it. It actually started about two years ago. There are so many reality shows out there helping people find love I can’t keep track of them anymore. The reality television show “Age of love” has a male contestant looking for love with girls either in their 20’s or 40’s. They classify the younger women as the kittens and the older women as the cougars. The first season of Age of love featured tennis star Mark Philippoussis who was 30 years old while on the show. He ended up choosing one of the “kittens.” Another show that is totally off the wall is “A shot of love with Tila Tequila.” Tila has both female and males trying to win her heart over. This is where women are getting bad names, like many of the videos we have watched in class, women are playing out with these party actions because they think that is what everyone wants. A knock off show of Tila Tequila is “A double Shot at Love” which is with twins that are both bisexual, and of course all the boys think this is “hot.” There are many many other shows that you have all heard about dealing with love. I think that these reality shows dealing with love is the most popular topics of reality. There are shows such as The Bachelor and Bachelorette, Bromance, Daisy of Love, Flavor of love, Mr. Romance and Perfect match and those are just a few.
I must admit I do watch some of these love reality shows. I think the only reason I watch them is because personally I find them hilarious, all these girls are completely head or heels for these guys that they barely know. Even the person picking one partner from about 20 others is outrageous. I think that if these people are going on these shows that there must be something wrong with them, like why can’t they date someone from around their city? Maybe it might just be to gain the fame, which most people are becoming famous from reality TV shows now; one word I have to say is crazy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Love_(TV_series)
http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/tila_tequila/series.jhtml
http://www.mtv.ca/tvshows/doubleshot/

Blog 14

This week I have decided to look at Susan Boyle again. I got some interesting replies to my last post and I thought I would inform you guys with a little more information. From reading the replies from last week’s blog it was amazing how you all said that it was time for people to be non-judgmental towards other people that are maybe not as “pretty” as you. It is very true how if you don’t have the look there is a slim to no chance at all of becoming a star in Hollywood, and as we know every star has had all sorts of surgeries and other cosmetic features.
I was reading a recent news feed of reality TV, when I came across a story on Susan Boyle with the headlines “Scottish singing sensation gets dye job, makeover.” I found that really interesting because the only reason Susan Boyle was such a hit on “Britain’s Got Talent” was simply because of her appearance and how incredible her voice was. The whole story behind Boyle was to prove to people that it’s never all about looks. We can’t judge someone without knowing them. I know when Boyle first appeared on the show fans and even the judges were a little nervous about her singing but she blew them away with her unbelievable voice. I think that by Boyle getting this makeover could affect the way people feel about her, fans and judges. On Friday she appeared on the cover of The Sun tabloid with shaped eyebrows, dyed brown curly locks. The readers of The Sun quoted that is as far as she should go for her appearance change. They also quoted that “we want her to stay one of us, not get hair extensions and a fake tan.” Even the producers are saying that they need to keep her as natural as possible because it could jeopardize the connection Boyle shares with her audience as “being one of them.”
Coming up on May 23rd is the day were the British judges will decided whether Boyle gets to move onto the next round. I guess we will have to see how much the makeover will benefit or affect her negatively. I think by Boyle might even perform better by having a little more self esteem, hopefully this will help her move on in the next round. Hope you guys all enjoyed the post!
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/britain-got-talent-sensation-susan-boyle-gets-dye-job-makeover-8878.php

Blog 13

This week’s blog I thought I would discuss the story of Susan Boyle. Now I’m sure you have all heard of this lady. She had recently auditioned on the UK’s reality talent competition. Let’s just say Boyle is not the most stunning lady we have seen on reality television. You can definitely say Boyle has been a huge hit in our news recently. Most people dream about have an opportunity like this, still being able to get the chance to become famous while the “looks” are not there. Boyle has a quite interesting personality.
This 47 year old woman has been singing since she was 12 and has thought she has never really been given the chance to become famous with her singing, and now by appearing on Britain’s Got Talent, not only has she become famous with her singing but by her personality and the history of her life we could just say. Boyle has an amazing voice that the judges could not believe! She lives alone in a Scottish village and admitted on television that she had never been kissed. She lives alone with her cat Pebbles. Susan Boyle has become a worldwide hit after she appeared on the talent show on April 10th weekend, since then she has drawn 13 million viewers on you tube. Boyle’s mother who recently died at the age of 91 has always pushed her to appear on the show, and now that experience is paying off with how supportive all the fans have been she said.
In a way Boyle reminds me of Britain’s little Connie Talbot, who is just six years old but yet still had an amazing voice and become famous just by singing on the show, now how many 6 year olds could say they are famous and great singers?
Hope you enjoyed the post, and check out the links for some videos!!

http://realitytv.about.com/b/2009/04/18/susan-boyle-is-the-reason-we-love-reality-television.htm

This week I decided to talk about teenagers who are exposed to sexual contents on television at young ages. I think this is an extremely important topic to know and understand what is happening in our society today. Unplanned pregnancies and sexual transmitted diseases are mostly common among the teenagers who are already sexually active.
The average teenager watches 3 hours on TV daily. I found in a article that 65% of high school seniors have already had sexual intercourse, this is in reality a very young age especially compared to back in the day when talking about sex was not even an option. The part that I don’t understand is that we expose our young teenagers to shows such as CSI, Family Guy, Simpsons and Secret Life of an American Teenager. Also another thing is that it’s not only about sex in these shows but we have set times on these shows running them at times when these times are considered “family” television time.
During the years from 1999-2000, 68% of television contained sexual content while only a couple of shows showed demonstrated safety during sex. Many teenagers experimenting sex at a young age quote in later years that they wish they would have waited longer. I had found on a website that the younger teenagers try to act more mature. They think by acting older it’s okay for them to experience sexual activities. I found a site that has a list of shows that they believe are suitable and not suitable for young children.
TV is one of the greatest influences on today’s society. It is amazing how much children and young teenagers are picking up from only watching maybe an hour of television a day. I think we need to reexamine the content we are exposing our children and young viewers too. Children’s behaviors are highly affected by their role models, and in this case their role models are considered to be the television shows they are watching. Now what do you think? Do you think that we have too much sexual content too little or just the right amount.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9068/index1.html
http://www.apa.org/monitor/may01/sexualtv.html
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/114/3/e280
http://parentingteens.about.com/od/teensexuality/a/teen_sex8.htm

I felt as if there has been a lot of recent interesting news in reality TV, so I have decided to all let you know some of the latest information. I have talked about Melissa Rycroft in other recent blogs but I just wanted to show that after appearing in a reality show she really hit the big screens. Let’s just say that Melissa Rycroft is a big hit in not only reality television but in all around public. After Rycroft was dumped by bachelor Jason Mesnick, she was asked to appear on another reality show “Dancing with the Star.” Now with recent news Melissa Rycroft is now asking to pose nude in men’s publications, she was offered $500 000. "Hef really wants Melissa to do a pictorial because she's the ultimate girl next door," a source told Star. "He thinks she has it all: beauty, brains and spunk. And it doesn't hurt that she has a terrific figure."
When it comes to “Jon and Kate plus 8” there may no longer be the camera side of things. The show has recently aired their fourth season finale when Jon was quoted on the show “Maybe we’ll be back, maybe we won’t” according to the Post. Jon had also told cameras that it has become very difficult being on the camera side of everything and not being able to be just “Jon” but he has to be “Jon and Kate plus 8.” Early February Jon was seen out at a bar located about 3 miles from his 1.3 million dollar home. “He was dirty dancing with several of them, making out, kissing them on their necks and mouths," a bystander told Star magazine. "I thought it was rather surprising for a father with his wife and so many kids at home to be acting like this. He was all over one girl, a long-haired blonde who's nearly 6-feet-tall. He left with several of the girls, including her." Now say if Jon was just a typical average male out at bar this would be a completely different story. This story would never hit paparazzi. This goes to show how about actual personal life you truly have, slim to none I would say. Although Jon has denied the stories and called them rumors and lies, him and his wife have been reported spending some alone time without the kids to “heal things.”
As I have been trying to mention to everything in my blogs is that once you have appeared on reality TV you really don’t have your own life or should I say private life?
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/report-tlc-announce-jon-%26-kate-plus-8-fifth-season-next-week-8691.php

This week’s blog I have decided to talk a little more about Jade Goody. Some of you may know who she is and some may not. She appeared on Big Brother season 3 becoming a star in reality television. Jade Goody has recently passed away Sunday March 22nd, 2009. "She will be remembered fondly by all who knew her and her family can be extremely proud of the work she has done to raise awareness of cervical cancer, which will benefit thousands of women across the UK." This was a direct quote from the BBC News online. Jade Goody is one of those stars that has been had a huge impact during and after her time on reality TV. She was actually diagnosed with cervical cancer while on the show in 2002. The disease had spread to her liver, groin and bowel when she was told it was very terminal February 2009. All she had wanted to do after hearing the terrible news was spend all the time she could with her husband Jack Tweed and her two boys, Bobby and Freddy. Goody died peacefully at home with all her family and close friends. Goody was in high hopes of educating our world about the risks of cancer and I think she has done a fantastic job. Cancer Research UK chief executive Harpal Kumar said: "Her brave battle with an aggressive form of cervical cancer has received widespread public attention and encouraged thousands of women to seek advice on how to prevent the disease. Here is a video clip of Goody talking and people talking about her. This is a true amazing story although it ended in grief I believe Goody is truly an inspirational person. It seems crazy just to think she only became famous and her story would have gone unnoticed if she had not appeared on season 3 of Big Brother.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7925719.stm