(un)reality

As a culture, we have become OBSESSED with reality television- don't try to tell me that it is not one of your favorite things because if you don't show your passion publicly, it is easily on of your top 3 guilty pleasures, so admit it (even if only to yourself while you finish reading this).  I love it so you're not alone.  But as entertaining as these shows are, how real are they?  

We all know (although we might not want to believe) that the final episodes have not only been crafted by putting intense people in even more intense situations that have been enhanced by competition, alcohol, sex, or some combination thereof, but also have been edited, rearranged, and put back together to form a seemingly natural progression.  Why does this matter?  Because it messes us (quasi)normal people up- screws with our perception of reality; makes us think that our lives should be more extreme and somehow convinces us to push ourselves into situations that we normally wouldn't.

Reality TV is a giant social experiment- mixing different people, situations, incentives, punishments, and locations together and shaking it until it creates entertainment. It makes me wonder what my life would be like if I grew up in a time where television producers didn't offer their version of "reality" to the masses, altering behaviors that were considered appropriate or not, popular or not, normal or not.

Maybe when our grandparents or even parent told us about the "good old days," they were, in fact, good because everything was more genuine, more real.  Friendships weren't made by a poke, conversations didn't have a character limit, and we actually had to travel places to see them.  In an age of obsession with reality, how real are the lives we actually lead?