Kardashian Upset

I have blogged about reality TV before and how it sets a poor example for its viewers, especially the young viewers. I talked about the Kardashian's and how the show Keeping Up With The Kardashian's sets such a poor example, more so than some other reality TV shows. Obviously the Kardashian Family, specifically Kim, have been in the media non-stop this week because of Kim's divorce to her estranged husband of only 72 days, Kris Humphries.
It is nearly impossible to use any source of media without hearing or reading about their divorce. Everyone is upset about this divorce, not because anyone really cares about them and wanted it to work, but because it is so ridiculous. The Kardashian's obviously have their lives taped for their E! reality show, and made a gigantic spectacle of Kim and Kris's wedding, creating two, two-hour long specials running two nights in a row. Not only did E! entertainment benefit from this wedding, as they got four hours of golden television, but it was a huge gaudy wedding that was way over the top.
Kim and her family made such a big deal about this wedding and audiences watched as the wedding turned into a social event, not a celebration of love. Kim had three custom made Vera Wang wedding dresses, a 6 foot wedding cake that had to be delivered in pieces because of its size, over 500 guests, and wore millions of dollars worth of diamonds as she said her "I-do's".
I believe this is one of the worst examples that reality TV has broadcast in recent years. Yes, there may be worse material out there for people to watch, but this was made to be such a huge event and supposed to be a joyous occasion about love, that everyone watched the special. Wedding vows are supposed to be sacred and cherished by the bride and groom and Kim and Kris obviously did not feel that way. They made the sacrament of marriage look like a joke and to look like an excuse to throw a fabulous party.

Reality TV "Standards"

With so many reality TV shows, there is a new genre of entertainment that is creating new "norms" for the American public. Previously, many norms and life lessons were taught to television viewers through sitcoms, dramas, and cartoons. For example children would observe their favorite TV characters saying "please" and "thank you" on the program and that would serve as an additional learning tool in addition to children being taught to be polite by their parents. There are so many more reality TV shows then when I was a child and now our youth is watching these shows and observing poor behavior and they may think that it is normal. For example, if a young child is sitting in the same room as their mom who is watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey, they could see one of the main "characters" Teresa getting so angry that she flips a table. Another example is if one is watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians and watching the Kardashian sisters going shopping and spending obscene amounts of money in a single shopping trip, or hearing them talk about their Christian Louboutin shoes. Anyone from pre-teens to young professionals could watch this and begin to think that it is normal for women to have Christian Louboutin shoes or spend way too much money while shopping is okay and normal. I feel that these shows that are based off of money and wealth have had a horrible influence over young Americans and has feed into the overspending trend that many citizens have a problem with. People watch these reality shows and want to be just as glamorous as the people thy watch on TV and spend money they may not have to feel as if they are a part of this unrealistic world.