Comment: UK Television

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TV SUCKS Erin Burns Personally I do not watch a lot of television, I am too busy. But occasionally on an afternoon or a Sunday morning, whilst suffering from the drunken shenanigans I was involved in the night before, I enjoy switching on the box and melting into the parallel universe set before me. The adventure in ‘My Parents are Aliens’, the highlife of ‘Friends’ or the sickeningly unrealistic abundance of beauty of ‘Hollyoaks’ can serve as a perfect method of relaxation and eases a hangover no end!

We can look at Sonia in ‘Eastenders’ or Fizz from ‘Coronation Street’ and be thankful that Jamie hasn’t cheated on us, or that Tyrone hasn’t killed our next-door neighbour, had a baby with our mother or run away with our milkman. It is the perfect way to appreciate our life and slob out all in one.

What I don’t want to see when I turn on the TV is someone making a cup of tea, someone getting their hair cut, someone picking out their belly button fluff! Reality TV sucks… ‘Wednesday 10am - everybody sleeps, Friday 3pm – Kylie picks her nose, Friday 3.01pm, Kylie eats it!’ Not thrilling viewing is it? If I wanted to see someone pick their nose, fart a little and burp some more I could just look at my housemates, better still if I want to see real life, I could just look in the mirror!

Admittedly, I did watch the first ‘Big Brother’, and yes, I did think about phoning in and voting for someone, but know I can’t even remember who they were. It was a new thing, a concept never explored before in the UK. I could even handle ‘Survivor’ with its interesting challenges and its, somewhat sinister tribal theme. However, ten people being tied to a truck, a hairdressing salon under scrutiny or ten D list celebrities in the jungle does not appeal to me in the slightest. They even have a reality TV show now called ‘Temptation Island.’ Sound intriguing? Well, it consists of Channel whatever taking four perfectly happy, stable couples and ripping their relationship apart. They split them up; plonk them on two separate islands with a shed load of gorgeous people, whose job it is to ‘tempt’ them into being unfaithful! What a load of rubbish!

It causes me to worry about how far TV producers would actually go to increase viewing figures, if we are so tolerant of reality television, then what else will we accept appearing on the box? Or will we just melt into a life of playing nosy neighbours, wherein every programme on the tele is spying on someone else, or will it be that we will find ourselves on the TV one day with out even knowing it?

Ever seen ‘The Truman Show’? Maybe you should, then maybe Reality TV will loose all it’s appeal and emerge as the mindless, ominous product that I believe it is.

© Erin Hopkins November 2003

Erin is a first year Creative Arts student at Portsmouth University

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