Reality TV

It has taken over the airwaves. Reality television isn't just a big hit in America, it's a rage the world over. I admit I'm a sucker for a good reality show. I like reality when it's in a sort of story format. I never really enjoyed reading fiction as much as non-fiction. So this stuff is usually right up my alley.

There are talent shows: America's Got Talent, Britain's Got Talent, American Idol, Pop Idol, Nashville Star, etc. We've got people searching for love: Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Average Joe, etc. Shows with nanny helpers: Nanny 911, Super Nanny, etc. There is even a drug and alcohol rehabilitation show for celebrities.

The shows about finding love or a mate are my least favorite. I may watch an episode or two (if I watch at all), but that's it. I find them annoying and predictable. Everyone in this world wants to love and be loved. That's nothing new. What makes these particular shows detestable is complex.

First, I don't believe that it's realistic to find love or even a lasting relationship in a dating competition. Let's face it. That's what these shows are - glorified dating competitions. Speed dating on crack. I believe that true love tends to come to us (some prefer to think of it as love finding us) when we least expect it, when we're not looking for it.

Secondly, I hate to see women parade themselves in front of any man in a desperate attempt to attract him. Most of the women on these shows are looking for a rich, good looking guy, someone who will pay their way through everything. All the males on The Bachelor have been wealthy. Most of the women come across as greedy, money hungry gold diggers. (To be fair, I have only seen the first season and a few episodes here and there of other seasons. Nothing seems to have changed.)

The men are no better really. They all want a perfect 10 on the outside. They want a woman is drop-dead gorgeous on the outside - big boobs, perfect shape, nice legs. Most of them don't give a hoot about what the woman has to offer from the inside - unless from the inside includes her vagina. (Sadly.)

The most detestable of these shows are Flavor of Love, which I absolutely abhor and refuse to watch, and Rock of Love, which is almost as bad. My refusal to watch Flavor of Love is strictly based on Flavor Flav. I find him disgusting the way he looks and how he acts. I remember him from another show a few years back. I think it was the Surreal Life, but I could be wrong. He and Bridgette Nielson hooked up on that show. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to find someone with whom he can share life and love. Everyone deserves that. I just prefer to not expose myself to him. =)

Bret Michaels is nearly as ridiculous. I justify watching Rock of Love with my love for the band Poison when I was a teenager. I was a huge fan, and I loved Bret Michaels. I thought he was hot. However, seeing him on this show has really turned me off to him. He talks out of both sides of his mouth. Out of one side comes: I want a woman I can truly love, a woman with substance, someone I can have a meaningful relationship with, not just have sex. Yet out of the other side comes: I just want to suck face with her, I am in love with her body, I know she will be fun in bed, etc. He looks at these women like their pieces of meat, and it's no wonder. They parade around the house, which isn't even his, wearing next to nothing. He says he wants a woman who is smart, but the ones who actually have something to offer outside of a great body, fake boobs and a good roll in the sack are most often sent pack quickly. I don't think he really wants a woman with a brain.

Moving on from that rant .... My favorite show of all is probably Super Nanny. I absolutely love nanny Jo. She is so matter of fact, but she has enough tact to balance that out. She's honest with families about their problems and why they have the particular issues they do. She is quite good at coming up with resolutions and getting the families she helps back on track.

I think I really enjoy Super Nanny because she helps parents be parents and teach their children what they need to know. I can't stand children who can't behave. Typically they can't behave because they don't know how. They haven't been taught, and that's because their parents can't be bothered to teach them. I don't know what is wrong with parents these days. While I haven't got any children of my own, I know it doesn't take being a parent or having a degree to know that children have to be taught, that they need rules and boundaries in order to grow up and be productive, contributing, law-abiding citizens.

I would love to meet Nanny Jo. I think she is really cool and down to earth. I bet she's a lot of fun to hang around. I'd like to talk to her about how she deals with the toughest cases and how she comes up with some of the solutions for families.