Jeff Colon Blog:2

I do not believe that many are surprised at the notion of the popularity of reality TV.  An early show at the beginning of the recent reality TV boom was Who Want to Be a Millionaire. While, this style of  of reality TV provided drama, it differed in comparison to others that followed. Reality shows such as Fear Factor, Big Brother, and MTV's Real World all present a high level of violent drama. Furthermore, TV stations found that when they added violent and sexual drama that the show's ratings showed significant increases. Naturally, after the stations realized the affect sex and violence had on their ratings, they sought out to follow the trend. This, however, led to many instances of contestants on these shows to become in a substantial amount of physical danger. I find our culture's thirst for violent drama both intriguing and alarming. I am intrigued as what kind of effect this genre of entertainment has on our society as a whole. This type of behavior that is shown in the form of entertainment can directly affect those who choose to view these shows. With instances of direct violent acts from one contestant to another, such as the knife incident in Big Brother 2, the viewer may be normalized to the degree of violence. It has been reported that after two decades of violent crimes being on the decline, in the last three years it has reversed to violent crimes now being on the incline. What I find alarming is the possibility that the violent drama that the consumer views in reality television could be effecting their behavior.