“Love Is Blind”, “Love Island” and “Survivor” are some of the most famous reality TV series. Though these shows may be entertaining, should they really be called “reality” shows?

According to Collins Dictionary, reality TV is a type of television programming which aims to show how ordinary people behave in everyday life. 

‘Ordinary people in everyday life’ implies that the people starred in these shows are simply living their lives as completely normal, just with a team of camera crew following them around everywhere. 

This is not what happens when filming reality shows. No one’s life is so interesting on its own that anyone would want to watch it for hours on end. Even if the star of the show was the most famous, successful person in the world, it would get pretty boring.

Even if by chance these people always have problems and events happening in their lives, it is usually not as dramatic as it is shown to be. Situations are tweaked and twisted and words and conversations are taken out of context and edited.

TV companies only care about what will get the most views and what will be more entertaining to watch. They aren’t just going to showcase people having simple arguments with simple solutions. They will do anything to keep watchers interested in a fake storyline and will use any opportunity to create more drama than there actually is. 

Watching any so-called reality show will make even a very interesting person’s life seem like the most boring thing in the world. 

Who cares? It’s not like fake expectations of reality can hurt anything right? As long as it’s fun to watch. People don’t often realize how certain things that they think are okay because it is enjoyable can affect other people and have harmful effects. 

Reality TV is very misleading and leads people to believe that how people’s lives are shown on these shows is how life is supposed to be. It can also teach people that the behavior of people on reality shows is normal, which can lead to unnecessary conflicts and unhealthy relationships. 

There are some reality shows that are meant to be appealing to children and younger people like “Dance Moms”. The amount of verbal abuse and bullying in that show can be so toxic for young people to watch. 

If kids grow up watching shows like this and thinking that is how it’s supposed to be, they aren’t going to know any better and they will end up treating others like that, because that’s what they see as real. 

In general, reality shows, not all, but most are heavily scripted and edited to contort the actual lives of these people purely for entertainment. People don’t think about how damaging it can be. 

These shows would be more acceptable if they were advertised as what they are and not presented as something that is supposed to resemble reality when there is little realistic about them.