Saturday 28 January 2012

Reality show or Controversial show


Reality shows as we know today is favorite genre of all Television producers. On one hand they generate good revenues for Television Industry and on the other hand they create a very good platform for thousands of Indian youngsters who want to achieve great things in their field of interests. Be it Dancing, Singing, doing Comedy, modeling or other talent (India’s Got talent of Colors Channel), reality shows do give a hope to the parents of young children that there is more to life than being a Doctor or an Engineer.
India has been grooming a lot of reality TV shows recently and most of them have been controversial to some extend with certain scenes and episodes abusing the traditional and cultural values of the country. There are different viewpoints from people belonging to different walks of life and the impact of reality shows is paving its way today. The reality shows debate being held through different mediums has found more criticism against such crude shows on many national television channels. The strongest question that is blooming in the air against these is that should reality shows be banned?
The responsible body for all these controversies giving rise to some sort of disturb in some society is the government itself. Numbers of reality shows are being streamed on Indian televisions and the government should have set better laws curbing expression of many sensitive issues that are being shown. It is known by the people that all these shows are crazily being produced just for the sake of TRPs and huge sum of money they earn. If the government is not able to take care of these issues that is causing bad influence in the society, it can be assured that the government is corrupt. There are lots of local organizations and groups pointing the vulgarity and insanity of these shows.
Recently, one of the popular reality shows called MTV Roadies portrayed two male participants nude on international TV in Brazil on the name of task! This is an insane behavior to a society where traditional and cultural norms are highly respected. They have neither cared about the social disturbance it would cause nor about the effects of reality shows on children. The truth of reality shows in television in India is that they care only about the money they could earn. An article on reality shows has described the fact behind how the actor or the real performer would face their real life. They have bear high risk of falling into mental disorders, depression and regret too because these tasks take place in just an instant in a flick of minute on TV but they face consequences throughout their life. Still the producer of the show says that they have helped the actors overcome the biggest fears in their life! The truth of mtv reality show is that they have not taken good care of all such possibilities in front of money. As a matter of fact, one can argue that these private channels are not in the business of promoting culture, but are for making money. But star plus roping in Akshay Kumar for its Master Chef, a cooking reality show, foreign actors coming in the Bigg Boss’s house and justice being given by a controversial woman in Rakhi ka Insaaf serve an example of the fact that only SEX AND FEAR SELLS and the entertainment media find this as the right business model.
It is outright WRONG to call these reality shows a culture destroyer. But what pains me the most is the Reality Show coverage In the Parliament. This is the height of stupidity. Aren’t there more critical issues at hand then discussing whether the Government should ban show like “Sach ka Samna” etc.? India has serious problems with poverty, economy and infrastructure to name a few. And these are the areas we need the government to act.  I don’t mean that censorship of such shows is not a critical issue. But if that’s the case, why is the government singling out the reality shows? It should then ban all ‘Saas-Bahu’ epidemics that are being thrown at the viewer along with lot of other trash which from a moral perspective are bad influences.
If TV is the greatest invention of our generation then REMOTE is even greater invention since TV. People ought to use it at will. If you don't like it change it or shut it. The average Indian TV viewer is smart enough to distinguish between what is harmless entertainment and what to take out of it. Culture for many is very much individualistic and personal and they feel that if the reality shows are gaining grounds which sells sex, then these too are being slowly accepted by the culture. I understand that not all the viewers are smart enough to differentiate between what’s wrong and right. That is where parental guidance should kick in. Many shows have a parental advisory before them and some also cater to a minimum age requirement. The censor board has shifted the timings of such shows from the prime time to a late night telecast keeping in view the mind of teenagers.

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