To Be, Or Not

     It amazes me how much some people seek to be famous and rich. I know that is backwards from the way it is normally said. However, I believe that people want to be famous more than anything. They want everyone to recognize them wherever they go. Rich was placed second. This is due to the fact that many of the people that become famous blow their money. These people are continuously trying to be what they think people want. Ergo, they may stay famous but not rich. This mentality has given rise to the Reality TV craze. Don't deny it. We feed into their vanity. You have watched some form of reality television. We all have at some point in the last few years. It seems that this is the main focus for the networks these days. Don't shake your head and say No, I haven't. I will say you are a liar. There is almost no way to watch television, without seeing at least one of these shows. Gone are the wonderful comedies of my youth. The price on production for one of these must far cheaper than paying for actors and studio time. There are enough individuals that will act like fools for the notoriety they gain.

     One of my old professors once equated the television to the gladiatorial games of ancient Rome. The games were used placate and pacify the masses of Roman citizens that had become unruly, during certain periods of the different emperors. The games had to morph into grand elaborate affairs to keep the interest of the common citizen. Each had to be bigger and better than the last one. Otherwise, riots were likely to occur. What would happen if the satellite and cable went out for a month in this country? Would people survive on books and news papers, or would hysteria reign. I can see where he compared the games to the "Boob Tube." If you think that that name come from all the well endowed women on it, you are way too young. Ask someone that had to turn a dial instead of use a remote.

     Think about it. The majority of Americans would prefer to sit at home watching other people experience life. We buy television sets that are as large as the wall they are mounted on. Our neighbors could watch the programs we are watching, from their windows across the street. All this allows the watcher to see it unfold in life-sized high definition, while listening in surround sound. A show just cant be enjoyed properly without all that. Can it?
     There isn't a viewer out there that cant survive without this technology to watch their favorite reality star. God knows it would lower the experience watching your favorite male, or female, on a normal television. You wouldn't be able to see them flex or bounce properly across the screen. The gratuitous skin shots of the artificially enhanced individuals can be topped only by one thing. That is their unnatural ability to prove their breast, or pectoral size exceeds their IQ. Okay, some of them it is their guts or beards that are larger. I cant discriminate against the less pretty reality stars.
     To be fair not all of them are dense individuals, willing to debase themselves for their moment in the sun. Some of the people are smart about it. They take the money and fame and use it to their advantages; building businesses and a future for their families. This does not include those beautiful people that used it for a springboard for their adult entertainment endeavors. That is something that a person should have been able to accomplish without doing prime time. Sorry, that is another form of mindless visual stimulant. I am getting my mind out of the gutter now.
     My professor might have been right about a majority of television shows. However, the television has brought us many wonderful moments. Who can say that they didn't love Lucille Ball? Did you not weep watching a wife and child crying over the flag draped casket of an American soldier? It all isn't bad. We have the ability to see wondrous moments, as they happen. World events are at our finger tips. These are things that were not available that long ago. As people, we just have to be smarter than the networks and the television. Use the OFF button and try to live life. Or, you can star in your own reality show.