Reality TV is one of the most popular genres of entertainment right now. With its young feel, appealing topics, and easy-to-grasp concepts it is not to be enticed by it. But is everything they say true? Although most people do not take Reality TV seriously, Reality TV should be more restricted in its plots and scripts, because the stereotypes and misrepresentation in Reality TV are being fed to a very young and developing audience.

Reality TV is known for promoting unrealistic stereotypes to unsuspecting viewers.  According to “Scripted Stereotypes in Reality TV” by Paulette S. Strauss “‘Some studies and investigations into people’s exposure to stereotypes in television and their effects revealed that ‘majority group members (i.e., White’s) consumption of even a limited number of stereotypical portrayals of Latinos in the media is associated with negative judgments about Latino characters’ disposition, stereotypic evaluations of Latinos in society, and even unsympathetic race-related policy preference’” (Strauss, 2018) This is significant because it affects a large audience. This would not be as important if it wasn’t true for so many people, but Reality TV is one of the more popular genres on Television. This can change many peoples’ opinion on a certain person or type of people, and it wouldn’t even be based on something credible. This is also important because it can desensitize people to certain issues. Maybe they see that one race has it harder than others, but since the subject is toyed with on Reality TV, someone might not think it is as serious as it actually is. This comes with even more of a burden because of all the racial issues going on in society today. Things like the BLM movement, Hispanic immigration issues, and concentration camps in China are a big indicator of this. Putting more limitations on this would suggest things like: Having an expert on the topic present when filming the show, putting a disclaimer on episodes that contain false information, or just completely taking the show off the air. Spreading misinformation to such a large audience on such a big platform should definitely come with more limitations.

Reality TV shows have shown a serious pattern of misrepresentation in all races, and this can be easily spotted with just a little watch time. According to “Reality TV: Entertaining… But No Laughing Matter” by the American Advertising Federation “Most Watch Party participants felt that how African-American women were represented in this show was negative and stereotypical. Participants felt that this particular show (Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta) has greatly influenced youth and teenagers. Among all of the shows previewed, this one has the highest viewership among the younger generation. Many participants believe younger viewers may not understand that the shows are scripted with much of the drama orchestrated by the producers/creators of the show.” (AAF). This is horribly misleading for the same reason as my last. It can change your worldview and alter your opinion on a certain type of race. The main point is that this show has one of the highest viewerships among the younger generation. This can be made even worse by the fact that this is probably being viewed by people of the race in question. This can change the way they act to mirror the eccentric behavior on the show to fit in more. Conforming to society's stereotypes is one of the biggest problems we see in younger audiences today. One huge example of this is ''Instagram models'' and how we’re supposed to look. Things like magazines and social media influencers are huge preludes to harmful self-imagery and body shaming problems going on in today's world. With cyberbullying becoming an ever-increasing problem today, this is not something we should play with. This should be a huge problem for parents since Reality TV on the surface is seemingly “harmless”, when it turns out it's everything but. Letting Reality TV run rampant as it continues to spread falsities should be on a lot of our minds. 

Lastly, Reality TV’s main source of viewership comes from younger audiences.  According to a poll taken by YouGov, adults 18-34 showed the highest viewership percentage in every category except for cooking. (YouGov). This is alarming because younger minds are more easily molded. If you also take into account all of the children under 18 watching Reality TV, the problem can start to show quickly. Also, the shows that mainly rope in these younger audiences are the stereotypical shows in question. These shows that contain more drama can be more entertaining at the cost of credibility.  What is even more concerning is that younger audiences may not be able to discern what is real and what is scripted, if any at all is real. This is upsetting because, like I said, they may seek to take in some of these behaviors. If they do not know what is real and what is fake they may get them mixed up and incorporate strange behaviors into their day-to-day lives. While these may not be the most pressing issues, even related to TV, more awareness definitely needs to be brought to events like this.

Some would argue that “no one takes Reality TV seriously”, but this can be easily debunked. No matter how iron you may think your willpower, everything you watch will somehow influence you. According to “You Are What You Watch? The Social Effects of TV” by Johnathan Rothwell, “A wave of new social science research shows that the quality of shows can influence us in important ways, shaping our thinking and political preferences, even affecting our cognitive ability.” The things you see in Reality TV may not have a huge impact on you, but they can still change how you see a certain person until you have a more concrete experience to break that association down.

Reality TV has many glaring problems, and one of them is their stereotypical undertones and misrepresentation. Combine this with a young audience and you get an unfavorable experience with very mature themes that serve misinformation to our future.We’ve definitely all experienced Reality TV before and with its broad topics, it’s most likely affected us in different ways. Reality TV is probably one of the more entertaining genres of TV and takes us on a rollercoaster that’s hard to get off of. But if you can recognize and steer clear of being impacted by all of the misleading information, it can become a hotspot for excitement. 

Works Cited 

American Advertising Federation. “Sign In.” Www.Aaf.Org, www.aaf.org/_PDF/AAF%20Website%20Content/000_Research/Research_Whitepaper_WatchParty.pdf.

Gabriel, Trip. “Feeling Dragged Through the Mud, as MTV Comes to West Virginia.” The New York Times, 2 Jan. 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/us/feeling-dragged-through-the-mud-as-mtv-comes-to-west-virginia.html.

Strauss, Paulette. Scripted Stereotypes In Reality TV Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, and the Social Media Commons. July 2018.