The good and bad impact on our traditions

“ What is reality TV’s influence on culture?”

In “ What is reality TV’s influence on culture?” Perritano discusses the effects of reality television on our culture in both positive and negative aspects, and also gives special attention to how individuals involved are affected. He begins by initiating the topic of how reality television has “ slithered into our culture”. By this he is referring to how viewer’s fascination with reality television seems to affect the way they talk, what they talk about, and even the way they dress. Perritano continues by talking about why some people watch reality television, and how some do so because it makes them feel superior in some way, while others watch because they want to see people get humiliated. This is an important point about individual viewer’s and learning something about their true intentions in watching reality television. Next he starts to focus on the cast displayed in these reality TV shows and how they “ rely on the willingness of ordinary individuals to have their lives played out in front of a camera”. These reality TV stars are rewarded by the out of the ordinary and sometimes obscure things they are displayed doing on television. They are striving for airtime and fame and let that be their motivation to do anything it takes to be the center of attention, though what we see may not really be how these people conduct themselves in the real world. Perritano talks about the lives of these stars after the shows, and how they spend most of their time trying to hang on to the rush and fame of being a celebrity. He even refers to a study where about ten percent of British teenagers, motivated by money and success, admitted that they would give up the chance of having a good education if they could become a reality TV star. Perritano piece on the effects of reality television give the reader’s insight on just how much each individual involved in watching or the making of reality television is independently.

Perritano produces an evenly distributed argumentative piece by talking about both the good and bad of reality television. Though the more negative aspects of reality television seem to be referred to more in the piece, both are discussed. John Perritano is an award-winning author and journalist with a master’s degree in American History from Western Connecticut State University. His piece made many great points that helped form the argument of this perspective. It is like other pieces in this perspective by arguing similar things such as the distortion of people’s moral compass, and individual’s watching these shows to make them feel superior. This argument is also talked about in Parham’s piece, “ Is Reality TV Hurting Us?”. Throughout the piece, Perritano uses many examples and cited sources of the impact reality television has had on our culture, making this source useful and strong.