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Café Weekly: The seven deadly sins of reality television
28-Aug-2009
Written by: Sarah Folmar
The seven sins have become our greatest entertainment.
Many of us heard all about the seven deadly sins while growing up, mainly as a reminder of what not to do in our lives. Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride are all part of the forbidden acts, but it seems that reality television masters them all so well.
Without lust VH1 and MTV would need to cancel most of the programming offered on the stations. Almost every show has one desired target who is fawned over and pampered until that person chooses a date or relationship at the end of the show or the season. All of the reality contestants go through a screening process, and thus far every show makes sure to use only good looking people to increase the amount of viewers. Forget being trustworthy in a relationship, since as long as someone is “lustworthy” that is all that really seems to matter these days.
Gluttony and sloth fit into their own category in reality television shows. While most people think of gluttony as an over-indulgence of food, viewers of reality programming encounter gluttony as an over-indulgence of alcoholic beverages. Getting the contestants completely inebriated causes more drama and controversy, which makes for the best kind of programming. Considering the days of the old episodes of, “The Real World,” have ended, contestants on these shows do not need a real job to support themselves while filming. Newer episodes of, “The Real World,” do have some form of a job, but the work load and daily tasks are completely unrealistic in our “real” world. The contestants master sloth considering they seem to do nothing more than enjoy a couple months of a vacation while not giving any considerable contribution to society, other than giving a good example to future generations of what not to become in life.
Wrath, envy and pride are also some of the seven deadly sins that seem to fit into a nice little category together. Have you ever seen a reality show that doesn’t have a contestant who is jealous of another person, wanting to hurt or take out revenge on another person or seems to think that they are the true center of the universe? These stereotypical contestants are always kept on each show until the viewers get so involved that they can’t wait for that person to get kicked off. The quiet and sweet ones may be the winners of these shows, but the Omarosas of television are the ones we will always remember. Staying on a show as long as possible means a greater payout for the contestants in the end. Without the three key elements of wrath, envy and pride, getting to the end of the show wouldn’t be as entertaining.
Of course greed is in its own special category since without greed there would be no reality television at all. Contestants are greedy for love, fame, money or any other personal triumph. These people are trying so desperately to get what they want that they will be subjected to strange challenges, ridiculous dates and a surplus of other embarrassing tasks to make it to the end of a show.
Each of the seven deadly sins gives an extra element to the bizarre television shows in the reality realm. Most shows incorporate each of the seven elements, and viewers continue to watch every week. They may be frowned upon, but the seven deadly sins certainly contribute to reality television today.
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