My Addiction

     Hey you!  Yeah, you!  Come here.  Closer...closer...closer...can I tell you a secret?  If you are one of my friends this will come as no surprise to you but let me whisper it in your ear.  I have an addiction. I do it every day, at all hours of the day but mostly at night.  I like to do it when TJ is in bed and the house is nice and quiet.  Sometimes I do it on the couch or in my bed.  Sometimes I have a glass of wine, before or during.  Sometimes it makes me scream and others times it makes me cuss.  Okay, Okay...I know you are curious and can't wait for me to tell you.  *Takes a deep breath*  I am addicted to...REALITY SHOWS!  There I said it!  Whew, just by saying those six words has taken a weight off of my shoulders.  LOL!!  But seriously, I am addicted to reality shows for a number of reasons.
      My generation grew up with "The Real World."  I think this is the first reality show that I ever watched and I was addicted from the first episode.  Here was this group of young adults who were strangers, living in a house all together and man, the things that went on!  From the relationships, to the random sex, to the fights.  OH BOY, THE FIGHTS!!  Who could forget Season 2 of "The Real World" and the fight between Tami and David?  Who knew that we would see Tami again on reality TV, almost 20 years later, still fighting, on "Basketball Wives?"

     Now I can go on and on about all the different reality shows that I love to watch but I have to say that watching reality shows today, as opposed to watching them 20 years ago, are the emotions that they evoke.  Maybe it is because I have 20 more years of life experience, so now when I see things like men cheating on their mates, dance teachers yelling at little girls and fights between friends, it really pisses me off!  There are some shows that make me so mad that I swear every week that I will not watch anymore but like a train wreck, I can't turn away, so I find myself tuning in week after week and yelling at the TV.  Damn shame, I know.
     One thing about reality TV that seems to have become the norm is the way that Black women are portraying themselves.  I know that the more you act a fool, the bigger the ratings but at whose expense?  I am aware that I am contradicting myself here because I love to watch the drama on these shows, but let me play Devil's Advocate here for a minute.  Although I love to watch these shows, I often time wonder how do these women explain their behavior to their children?  For instance, Tami on 'Basketball Wives."  Let me say that this is a show that I actually did stop watching because it just became too much.  Now, I spoke about Tami being on "The Real World" 20 or so years ago.  Today she is in her 40's, divorced and a mother.  As a mother of teenage girls, how do you explain being a foul mouthed bully?  How do you explain physically fighting and acting a fool on television?  How do you teach your children to "do as I say and not as I do" when you are on national television embarrassing your children, yourself and Black women everywhere? After she bullied another woman by taking her purse and keys until the woman came to her to apologize, I was done.  She had gone too far and as a producer of the show and a Black woman, Shaunie O'Neal should have stepped in and said "enough!"
     It is especially a shame that women who are "supposed" to be part of an elite society of NBA players wives and girlfriends act as though they have absolutely no sense of how to act in public places or self respect.  Who gets dressed up in designer clothing to jump over tables, throw bottles of expensive wine and fight at a restaurant? Have a little couth!     
     Reality shows, love them or leave them, seem to be a part of pop culture that are not going away anytime soon.  I recently came across a site that lists different types of reality shows that are looking for people to be on them.  There are hundreds of them about all kinds of crazy things like, "Does your man take too long to get ready" or "Redneck Interventions."  WOW!
     Although I love reality television, I have to say that I feel sorry for the "writers" of television shows because nowadays there aren't very many scripted shows anymore, although there are some "reality" shows that seem to be very scripted.  Reality television has seemed to taken over most networks and cable channels. Soon they will be taking over the kids channels, as well.
     Take it or leave it, reality television has found a place in my everyday life and although I yell, cuss and sometimes cry, it is one addiction that I will not be kicking anytime soon.