absolutely. initially i thought the concept of 'reality' tv was fantastic. when i first heard about 'survivor' i really thought we were on the verge of something monumental provided it didn't devolve into 'lord of the flies'... then i saw an episode and realized it was just an incredibly ostentatious set for yet another game show.

as for the celebrity personal lives. i've been saying it for years. celebrity is the modern divinity. our society idolizes and worships fame as the means to regain the perceived purity we all lost at birth. once we become stars then all our sins are atoned for, all our debts are paid off, and we get to eat cake and ice cream all day everyday, and poop rainbows, and live forever. :banghead:

It's sad that when watching telly, you usually have to spend a lot of time watching attempts at manipulating you .. and they work too, even if you don't believe it. ;)

I like a lot of TV, but I don't like how the market tries to manipulate viewers. We have one channel here which is free of commercials and it's bliss.

It's interesting .. In Norway, we don't normally worship our celebrities. Instead, we think of them more as regular people. They don't necessarily make that much more money than the average Joe here, so the big difference between them and you is usually that they work in TV or radio.

i think the biggest issue with television advertisements is that the viewers really think it's an 'us against them' situation when in reality it's 'us against ourselves'.

Yup.

that still happens on this side of the pond as well, but that's more for local media employees. no one one freaks out about the weatherman getting groceries. there's still a distinction between a media personality and a celebrity. just because you're on tv doesn't mean you're a star (despite what the vast majority of 'idol' and 'reality' contestants want to believe).

Celebrity worship isn't exclusive to America...there are British, Australian, French and German tabloids too. And it's fairly relevant that America is over sixty times larger than Norway.

So naturally we're bound to get more of this crap.

Noone would freak out if Norway's biggest actor would enter the store to get groceries here .. but it's a small country too. I know two reality TV contestants myself. One of them was the winner and spent the money she won on an apartment not far from where me and my GF win. Still, despite winning a popular show a year ago, she's hardly ever recognised in public.

True, but I think a lot of people use this site as a socialization tool, which then requires thought.

it can be good and bad

If you're going to say TV is a brainwashing device then you have to say Newspapers, magazines, literature, the internet and music are too. The only thing wrong with TV is the quality of 90% of the output and commercials.

Parents who harp on about the influence Television violence, sex and blah blah has oh their children need to get their fingers out of their arses and be more proactive in their development. They forget it can also be insightful and educational... although unless you're watching the discovery channel or its affiliates that's rare these days.