Reality Life

Reality Life
Karen Sternheimer wrote an essay entitled: Reality Life. The essay is based on what society chooses to base their perception of living the “American dream” through watching a reality TV show. Living a dream in the eyes of the average American or the “middle class” person mirrors having financial independence and, of course, fame as Sternheimer says. While watching shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Real Housewives of Orange County and others; it allows us to conjure a sense of celebrity through their show facilitating an even greater real life magazine excerpt walking around in our television screen that we try so desperately to mimic. While having this option as a mere possibility, the “celebrities” are somewhat like “us” and we begin to feel at ease; so it then becomes our addiction to view and indulge in reality shows because we feel a step closer to the celebrity with high social economic status or “fame”.
Aside from obsessing about the wealth found in these people whose lives are a show, we are blatantly exposed to their irritating and irrational personalities and ways; they aren’t always admirable. Sternheimer says “So in a way these shows both celebrate wealth and criticize the wealthy. If we’re not in the exclusive club of being wealthy, watching them might make us feel better about our relatively modest lives.” There is a sense of hidden wealth in America where the real elite (older more powerful rich people) refuse to have no privacy in their lives due to their economic status. Not necessarily meaning that their lives aren’t merely as interesting as those who have reality shows and flaunt their money on public television, but better yet they remain invisibly rich in the grand scheme of things. Sternheimer emphasizes that “our continued focus on wealth coming from hard work, talent, and being on a reality show masks the reality of where wealth mostly comes from in America.” And for those reasons Americans turn to the next best and closest thing to what they consider living an ideal life; watching reality TV shows.
Allowing moment of honesty to be evident; I too am guilty for watching reality TV shows, which is probably why it is much easier for me to dissect the more populated crowd in viewing these shows. I like to believe that it is easy to go out and spend thousands of dollars a day on things that I DON’T NEED and rather on things that I LIKE. Watching these shows brings me a sense of thrill and adrenaline causing me to want to work just as hard as they portray themselves to work in these shows. The only show that really captivates my attention is “Keeping up with the Kardashians”! I am absolutely infatuated with that show! I am undeniably in love with the fashion, the personalities, the people and the random things they do in the show; it’s entertaining to me. I completely agree with Sternheimer when she says “watching these people might make us feel better about our relatively modest lives”, it makes sense. At least personally it makes sense to me because they too have problems and due to their celebrity status they can’t do things that ordinary people do- hence (me) being grateful for my totally simplistic life. I come and go as I please to where ever I choose to go and yet I still have the opportunity to feel like I am a part of their loop (the celebrity world) through the things they do. Obviously I’m not able to do the things they do exactly how they do them but in small form I am able.
One of the things that mostly stood out to me was when Sternheimer explains the difference between the “leisure class” and the “power elite”. She explains that the leisure class consist of the celebrities in reality TV and she compares them to the power elite society that is in her terms the “real upper crust” whose money is not as new and who probably wouldn’t allow cameras in their homes and they would rather remain largely invisible. While keeping the power elite at an exclusive level where cameras aren’t needed in their daily lives it provides windows to help maintain an illusion that there is an invisible society yet never-the-less more important than those which are visible. When keeping such power at a minimal exposure we subconsciously understand that not everyone that has money with an interesting personality can be famous. There comes a point where stating the obvious is unnecessary because it should be known that there are rich people in this world that derive from old family businesses and corporations that don’t have the least interest in having their own reality show but they are in existence.
Sternheimer makes an interesting points in this article, most of them in which I have agreed with. As for my addiction to the reality TV show ending due to this article or my moment of truth; I won’t stop watching them. Maybe it gives the average American something to hope for? In which case even still, her point remains valid- in my opinion.