Fiction versus reality

 

I try very hard not to be one of those people who say how great things were back when I was young. The truth is, as the song, "Memories" states so clearly. "Can it be that it was all so simple then, or has time rewritten every line?"

I struggle sometimes, with why the students I teach seem to gravitate towards conspiracy theories and "reality" television where people's most intimate secrets are revealed and biggest fears are brought to life. What changed between generations? 

There is not one thing that I can think of except the explosion of "reality" television, which isn't real at all. One of the staples of my teenage years was the show, "All in the Family." It is a show that today would probably never find an audience. It was fiction; there was no Archie Bunker but we all somehow knew one. Edith came to life under Jean Stapleton's wonderful portrayal and I wanted to grow up and be Gloria. My older brother fit the part of Meathead although I think he was smarter. 

All in the Family showed how terribly messed up we were towards many things still being fought today. Civil Rights, Women's Rights, prejudice, bigotry and all the freedoms addressed in the First Amendment of the Constitution. It spawned two major spinoffs, "The Jeffersons" and "Maude". In my family, we watched all three. 

These television shows presented many social issues being faced in the country today, but in a way that cause me to think, to question, but to laugh. Norman Lear and his writers were genius in that way. 

That all changed with these shows that were billed as reality shows but in truth, were staged people, doing what a director and producer wanted them to do. The first show most writers feel comes close to what I mean was actually done buy PBS in a show called "An American Family" in 1973. The genre really took off with shows like CBS's "Big Brother" and MTV's "The Real World." Included in my mind are also what I call the daytime screaming shows like Jerry Springer or Maury. 

All this stuff is scripted and directed and yet, the young people seem to believe it is real. This has carried on to shows like "Gold Rush" and "Alaskan Bush People or "House Hunters" and "Pawn Stars." Young people today seem to like shows like this but believe they are real. Even movies which show the line, "based on a true story" lean towards what will sell, not what is real. 

I am not sure why this is something which makes my mind go in to overdrive, but it does. Especially on a night when I am watching reruns of "Mad Men".