Snuff TV

I admit it, I watch terrible reality TV shows. A lot. I watch them and I point and the screen and laugh in disgust, all the while appreciating the fact that these people will disappear into oblivion any minute but right now they think they are the shit. They do disgusting things on TV for the big prize of fame. They will do ANYTHING on TV for the prize of fame, really. Sometimes that means just parading around in a bikini with three inches of ass-crack hanging out, and sometimes that means eating a bag of big vomit. It’s always something degrading, though. And all the contestants do it with such ZEST! But so…after this week, when the world learned that one of the contestants on these vile shows turned into a heinous murderer, it really made me wonder. Did seeing himself on these vile shows doing all these degrading things contribute to his turning into a murderer? I mean, think about it – while they’re filming, they’re all excited about the cameras and the attention and the free booze, but then months later they see it all edited together…and it’s not so glamorous anymore. In fact it might be pretty awful, and it might send someone down a very dark path. For me, when the news broke that Ryan Jenkins was wanted in the murder case of his wife or exwife, and then a few days later he was found dead in a motel in Canada…well, I immediately was like, wow, the media is really going to have to question the morality of these reality shows now! But it doesn’t seem to be happening. I’ve read a few sentences here and there that point the finger at the programmers and producers of the shows, but not much, considering. Is no one else out there thinking this is absurd? Is no one else out there thinking that we are missing a BIG BIG turning point, a point of no return? Anyone? Anyone? Here’s how MTV is painting the picture.