Column: Reality TV killing real art

By ChaToyya Sewell

Published Dec. 8, 2009

Anytime I flip channels on TV, I realize how right Andy Warhol was.

We all have heard the famous saying, "In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

In the current entertainment landscape, it seems more unlike the ramblings of an eccentric artist and more like prophecy. What does it mean for us when entertainment more often than not resembles fast food than the delicacy of artistic integrity?

Before this devolves into nostalgic moralizing, I do not think bad entertainment is a new entity or somehow created by 21st century consumer culture. There has always been poorly-executed sensationalist art works, novels, etc. I do feel in the business of entertainment, it is easier to receive funding for another reality show than a slow paced, character-driven masterpiece.

So what does this say about our future as a society?

To me, it's scary, almost dystopian — a place where the stereotypes used to sell reality characters are accepted and internalized by those seeking some big break. It's a place where the philosophical themes of art and questions about the humanity of us all are lost between masterful editing and contrived fighting. It's not pretty.

Reality television is not in the business of accurately portraying people. Instead, the full human range of personality is shrunk into bite-size morsels, a mixed hors d'oeuvres tray of stereotypes and tropes. Clearly, reality TV does not function on its own, it responds to a need within our society for something quick and easy, something that does not stretch our perceptions but reinforces them. And as it reinforces the relationship between TV programming and the audience, it becomes cyclical. It goes like this: The tropes within shows reinforce the tropes within society raising another generation to believe these falsehoods only to have them reinforced once again. And so on and so forth.

There is a bit of variety to television's offerings, but it is dwindling. For every "Flavor of Love," "Rock of Love" and "Jersey Shore," there is only one "Mad Men." Reality television, like videogames, cannot be the scapegoat for all our societal woes, but when you hear a female character spout, "They're like sluts, and sluts are supposed to be abused," on primetime you have to wonder about the nefarious messages we are sending and listening to (courtesy of "Jersey Shore" on MTV).

Yet the tunnel does contain a light. With the rise of fast and easy entertainment came the rise of the Internet. Where before upstart filmmakers were reliant on personal income and private benefactors to make films, now anyone with access to a basic camcorder can produce a short film.

The Internet has begun the process of democratization of the arts. (We must remember this is not completed because it must be remembered that most in the world cannot even afford that camcorder.) Without the weight of benefactors and investors to impress, some artist can put his or her pieces out there without fear of censorship.

They don't have to worry about not adhering to the socially acceptable. Instead, we get a variety of self-produced art that can be nothing but good. And though the Internet is weighed down with crap, once in a blue moon, you can strike upon a gem. That homemade music video on YouTube, that blog that makes your day, something — anything that hints the arts are not dead. That they might very well survive this.