Weekly Analysis 1-3

Reality TV: A new way to find love. Back in the good ole’ days, as they are so graciously called, a boy would see a girl he thought was pretty, he would ask to court her and eventually they would wed. As the years went by and time progressed so did the idea of how love could be found. In 1965, Chuck Barris created the game show, “the Dating Game,” the concept took a single man or woman, and tried pairing them with their perfect mate. The objective was to ask a variety of questions to a panel of 3 contestants and based on their answers determine which one is best for them. As with many trends in pop culture one idea leads to spin-offs and copy cat shows. For today’s generation we have VH-1’s, “Flavor of Love, Rock of Love, I Love New York, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila and the most recent Real Chance at Love,” the premise is the same as on each show the main character or characters is looking for love by pairing off with a variety of men or women and in some cases both. As a society we have gone in the opposite direction of what used to be acceptable in the dating world. The methods once used to find true love are now seen as boring and unconventional. Dating is now done over the internet and reality TV. With the actual reality being that no one can expect to find true love with 15 different cameras, 15 different men and women all being alternated in and out of their bedroom in a matter of weeks. What does this say for us as a society, that we are to busy to take the time and develop own our relationship, or that we have become so callous and engrossed in seeing someone else make a fool of themselves for so called love that we continue to promote shows of this nature.