Are reality TV shows... nice?

[NorksBride]

First, I have to admit that I don't watch Big Brother, I'm A Celebrity etc, but due to the clamouring media it's impossible to not know anything about them.

Would I be right in thinking that a bunch of people are picked and thrust into each others company and a good percentage of these people are a) not very bright b) drug/alcohol dependent or in recovery and c) mentally ill or behaving as if they are. And this is for the nations amusement?

Does this promote a caring society? Discuss.

Far from it being about a caring society I think it highlights the desperate barrel-scraping of fading celeb types to keep themselves in the spotlight by any means possible. This is the only way they can feel validated and oh, earn money as they have no other discernible skills.

If people choose to view the freak show, that's their choice. It's a centuries old thing isn't it?

well, I think that considering they're "celebrities" these things would apply anyway. A large amount of celebs are addicts/have mental problems, often as a result of their status, so to stick them all in a house together just exaserbates the sad life of a celebrity IMO.

course most of the "celebrities" that go on these programmes aren't really celebrities anyway they're has-beens who need one last spot in the limelight before they fade for ever into insignifficance.

stanford prison experiment

Never really watched reality tv shows, but experiments like the link above I find interesting in comparison.

OK so a prison is a lot more extreme, but I think some of the basic ideas behind them are the same.

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I'm aware of the social experiment that was the Stanford Prison exercise - but our current reality TV shows aren't comparable, these programmes are purely for titillation, not education or social research.