A lil media critique...why not?

As some of you know I’m currently a senior Mass Communications major. With this in mind, I’ve decided to fore go several ideas for a new blog that I have floating around in my head and have opted to blog about the sorry state of media (specifically television and film) these days. It might not be my funniest blog, but it has to be said.

Television- The only way I can start a rant about the current state of television is with this one phrase: Reality television will be the downfall of society. Period. Ninety percent of television programming is horrendous anyway. What makes matters worse is the onslaught of reality programming in the post-Survivor era. Here are some of the worst reality television shows playing currently on our local stations

*Laguna Beach-Are you serious with this one? Can people actually watch this and believe it’s “reality. I can tell you right now that the show is staged. The camera angles are too precise, the dialogue, however idiotic and “straight iggnint dog” is clearly scripted. On top of the fact that the “reality” portion of this show is a farce, it is also a perfect example of all that is wrong in our American society. It’s highlighting what the swanky and the rich of Orange County, California can waste their money on. And the worst part about it is the youth of America see this constant consumer culture and swoon for their lives to be similar. They highlight the drama of every day upper-class life. And the youth of America strive to be like them in every way. It’s just pitiful.

*Big Brother- Here’s another great portrayal of current America society. It truly shows that the perception of the average American that either participates or watches this show is that money is the all mighty. Money, money, money. These “contestants” will stop at nothing in order to get their fare share of the prize. Not much to rant about here. If you like watching paint dry, or seeing your parents fight, then you might want to watch this show. Because it’s got it’s fair share of boredom and irrational fights. Just a thought.

*Fear Factor- This show shouldn’t even be considered television. The stunts, however cool, are clearly staged. And you see these people, time and time again, unable to perform well in them. Even if this does somewhat contradict a point I made ranting about Big Brother, if you’ve got a wad of cash on the line and you’re participating in a stunt to win said cash (with little to no chance of perishing while performing) just suck it up. Eating testicles and donkey brains and Snuffleufagus snout is just appalling and is degrading to human beings as a species. Unless you live in some tribe in Africa or something; but that’s beside the point.

*The Contender/Ultimate Fighting Championship- Okay, being a testosterone filled male, I’m obviously a big fan of boxing and fighting etc, however, ever since the Ultimate Fighting Championship matches have been broadcast on Pay-Per-View, the show has gone drastically downhill. No one wants to watch a bunch of meatheads living in a house together. And the fights on the show can, in no way, surpass the Pay-Per-View fights. The Contender is another show I don’t care for that much, despite my inherent love for televised violence and bloodshed. To steal a line from Greg Geraldo, “I’m pretty sure we used to have a similar show to find the best boxer in the world. Yeah, it was called BOXING. That was a good show.” I rest my case.

I could go on all day about the suckyness of Reality television but it’s time to move on to a different genre of television. The pop-culture gossip kind. What is the deal with the gossip shows? I don’t need to know Paris Hilton’s whereabouts at every waking moment. I loved the 80’s just as much as the next person but do we need 3 versions of “I love the 80’s” playing non-stop on VH1. Who are these comedians that lend their commentary to these shows anyways? Washed up/ never been comedians…kind of like me. What happened to original programming? Why is it necessary to re-cap the week’s events in a show called “Best Week Ever”? P.S. Your commentary isn’t witty, it’s just plain poop. What happened to creativity? That brings me to my next point.

Movies- What’s the deal with movies now days? Are we that strapped for creative ideas that we have to consistently rehash age-old television shows? And video game movies? We don’t need to see some sorry adaptation for a video game or age-old television show. I thought we lived in a world with creative people. Apparently that is not the case. The worst part about these “remake” feature films is they’re poorly made. Even if, by some magnificent stretch the television version of the remake film is quite entertaining, they always end up hiring the worst actors and directors to produce these films. Except for Starsky and Hutch, because I’m partial to a Ben Stiller/Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson (with a Will Farrell cameo I might add) film. New comedies are non-existent, unless it’s featuring the cast above. Comedy in film has melded into the “teeny bopper” movie genre. Movies that fall into this ilk are “She’s All That”, “Bring it On” and many other sucky pictures.

If a new movie isn’t some rehashed television show, or some poor excuse for comedy, it’s usually a historical film. I enjoy war movies, when they are done right, but “Alexander”, “Troy”, what’s next? “The Bible-the untold tales”. If I wanted to watch a historical movie, I’d pretty much just hit up my trusty History Channel.

Well, that’s my rant for now about the current state of media. This might be a running theme in my blog, as I review new movies. I am pretty awesome though, so the movies I see are usually top of the line. Anyways, apologies to those who read this thinking it was going to be comedy gold. I promise I’ll be updating more frequently after this one.