Reality Television Signals the End to a Civilized Society

Reality television has become a phenomenon in our society.  No longer are TV sets filled with paid actors and actresses, but now any bumpkin can achieve fame and fortune.  Awhile back fellow Babeler, Jason Morgan, babeled on the origin of reality television.  Therefore, I am not here to discuss the history of said phenomenon, instead I would merely like to point out that I think reality television vehemently signals an end to our civilized society.  Allow me to explain. . .

Before reality shows like Survivor and The Biggest Loser even existed, most Americans were already enchanted with shows like America’s Most Wanted and Cops.  Americans would sit down on their couches with popcorn in hand and watch as criminals would get caught red handed for stealing, speeding, or killing.  While this provided ample entertainment for those who are easily amused, this sort of entertainment reminds me of the mob of Ancient Rome when they would sit comfortably down in a giant arena called the Colosseum and watch as gladiators would fight for their lives.  Skeptics might say there isn’t a show that has people fighting until the death on TV, but think about how viewers are drawn in to these types of shows where the cops are engaged in a violent car chase or a foot race to catch the bad guy.  Still don’t smell what I’m cooking?

This past December a new show entitled Smile, You’re Under Arrest premiered on Fox.  The plot of the show is to lure wanted criminals to live sets where they are to be placed under arrest.  The criminals are duped into going by being told that they are auditioning for a modeling spot or a movie extra spot or simply manipulated into thinking they won a trip to a VIP treatment spa.  The whole thing sounds fairly comical, especially when you consider that these criminals were in the middle of a facial when the sheriffs came in and placed them under arrest.  Although the first season only lasted three episodes, it was a hit and I’m sure it will be back.  As one that enjoys analyzing trends in society, I find it very interesting such a show exists.  The success of this show further illustrates that society truly gets a kick out of seeing real people get hurt.  Whether they should or should not get hurt, well that is for a judge and jury to decide.  Based on the great amount of interest Americans have in reality law enforcement, one could conclude that in the future there will be reality television shows where criminals fight for their lives.

This past week I was lucky enough to catch one of my favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger movies on the tube.  The movie, titled The Running Man, is about a reality TV show circa 2017 that has criminals pitted against gladiators in a fight to the death.  Of course, the criminals are the underdogs as they have no weapons to defend themselves with, while “stalkers” hunt them down.  The “stalkers” are armed with a full arsenal of weapons ranging from a sharp ice hockey stick (Subzero) to a metal cutting chainsaw (Buzzsaw) to a flamethrower (Fireball).  To add to the flavor of this whole awesome plot, Arnold has been falsely convicted and basically “chosen” to fight these “stalkers”.  Naturally, the Governator emerges triumphant and not only gains the favor over the mobs of people, but also earns his freedom.  This type of ending (gaining the favor of the mob and earning freedom) is strikingly similar to what would have transpired for Roman gladiators that fought and survived for three to five years in the Colosseum.

There is another movie out there that shows how reality television will become encompassed by violence, called Death Race (a remake of Death Race 2000).  The plot of this movie is similar to that of The Running Man, however instead of fighting gladiatorial games against weapon yielding maniacs, criminals race against each other in weapon loaded armored vehicles.  Frankenstein (Jason Statham) races a pimped out mustang against other drivers, like Machine Gun Joe, for his freedom.  The Death Race has become a billion dollar business as the audience loves it and cheers for their favorite driver.  However, realizing that there is a plot against him to gain his freedom, Statham breaks away from his last race and manages to escape to his freedom.

So here we are in 2009, and Americans have shown that we are attracted to violence on TV.  We love the whole law enforcement genre of catching bad guys and justice.  This is nothing new, humans have enjoyed watching violence for thousands of years, whether in the Colosseum or on TV.  Is it that unbelievable that in eight years there could be a reality show where criminals fight for their lives?  Would it be fool proof and just?  I truly don’t know, but I do think that our society is trending the Roman way and gladiatorial games are in our near future.

Image Used In Post

Colosseum image courtesy of Flickr user wili_hybrid published under the CC license.