Reality Television (and America) Slides Even Further
I mentioned my views on MTV's Jersey Shore in another post, but this is more of a rant about the general state of television and, unfortunately, what it says about the country.
I must admit, I like certain reality TV shows. Top Chef is a foodie's dream, although this season was BORING, I watch some other Bravo shows (no, I'm not gay, not that there's anything wrong with it), and have even watched a few episodes of Housewives of (insert latest city here). I loved the BBC show The Dragon's Den because I'm a bit of an entrepreneur as well.
A couple of seasons ago I started watching Celebrity Apprentice, and enjoyed it although I am not a Trump fan. Until this year I had never seen even a single episode of non-celebrity version of The Apprentice, but I decided to give it a shot this year.
Oh my god, when did being an asshole start passing for entertainment?
One the girl's team you have an Assistant DA, who is apparently under the impression that she is impressive, and on the guy's team an arrogant asshole. I don't mind arrogance, but I do mind asshole-ery. And Trump is apparently okay with it, which makes him an even bigger a-hole.
And while we're on that topic, what about all of these celebrity chefs and restauranteurs who act as judges on the foodie shows and believe that degrading the contestants somehow makes me more likely to eat at their restaurants? I don't mind honest critiques of the food, but to the bald judge on Master Chef who chunked the girl's food in the garbage without even tasting it, all I have got to say is "Dude, you lost customers with that d-bag move."
On the flip side, a couple of years ago when I was in Vegas with a friend of mine we dropped several bills at Chef Hubert Keller's Fleur de Lys restaurant in Mandalay Bay. I had seen him on Top Chef, was impressed with his comments and his demeanor, and spent more on a meal and wine than most people pay for a car note each month and was happy to do it. By the way, he even came out of the kitchen and made it a point to go to each table and speak to the guests, giving him even more points for class.
It seems to be a theme in America right now. Turn on the political news and you see angry people, usually old white people, screeching about how they are being mistreated and advocating hate with every gesture and grimace.
I'm from America, and we used to better than this. Maybe if we learned manners and grace again our country would began climbing upward.
Perhaps Jon Stewart and his Rally to Restore Sanity is onto something. Colbert too, although I'm afraid that the dumbing down of America may mean a lot of people won't get his irony.
For what it's worth, I've never met a rude American
Well, at least no one who's been rude to me. The ones I've met have all been very helpful and nice.
Thanks. When I visited London in the late 90s they loved Americans but I hear it’s not quite the same now. Thanks for visiting the blog.