Survivor Scares Me

I try to avoid reality shows. Not easy to do, because they suck you in with their crazy gimmicks, and it’s hard not to feel for those poor contestants. After all, there but for the Grace of God . . . and well maybe but for some common sense and a bit of dignity. Also, I like fast-paced game shows like Jeopardy, and enjoy a good documentary, and a reality show does have some elements of both formats.
But the content of many of them scares me. I fear that our society is gradually becoming more Dickensian, not in the sense of being like the good Charles’s ideals, but in the sense of becoming like the Victorian horrors of his day. Dog fights, bull fights, half-naked women beating each other half to death for a pittance of money, men engaging in deadly bare-knuckle boxing for same. Reality shows have that same element of playing the lower classes for fools for a sucker’s chest of coins, while the promoters get wealthy and laugh over how far people will sink for a dime.
And it’s not just the humiliation people are willing to endure. If a full-grown adult wants to debase him or herself in public for a buck, and other adults want to watch, fine. But lately the shows are adding an element of real danger that scares me. For instance, on Survivor, the people come back skeletally thin and covered in cuts and bruises. That can’t be healthy. Not to mention the more serious accidents that plague these shows. I also wonder about the environmental damage wreaked on the host country. People breaking off pieces of coral on the Great Barrier Reef? Are these locales ready to have a group of untrained klutzes traipsing around drecking for food?
This week I couldn’t help but notice the ad for nest week’s episode of Survivor. Since they air every ten minutes on all channels. The people are going to be forced to eat entire baby turtles, and something that looks like a monkey head and arm. Is this legal? Is this sanctified by any kind of board of health? Or committee for the status of endangered animals?
And should children be allowed to watch these shows? What does it say to our children if we consider watching people engage in these disgusting and exploitive behaviors entertainment? Not to mention the reality shows that include children. To me, putting children on a reality show, like Family Fear Factor, should be a violation of child labor laws. They’re not old to enough to consent to such ridicule themselves, and I don't think their parents should have the right to consent for them in such a matter. I think putting your child on a show like that constitutes a form of child abuse.
Where will all this lead? Are we finally going to sicken of it, or are we going to slide further downhill into bare-breasted bare-knuckle boxing and bear fights?