Western Courier

Issue date: 10/19/09 Section: Opinion

Skylar Patridge/cartoonist

What do the Colorado balloon boy case and the entire scope of reality television have in common? They both have succeeded in attracting the easily amused and wasting their time. It is the same repetitive drama replayed over and over again.

For those of you who didn't tune in last week, 6-year-old Falcon Heene from the reality series "Wife Swap" was reportedly lost in a mylar balloon floating over Colorado, and when it landed, the child was not found in the aircraft but in a box in his attic. When speaking on national news, Falcon said he was told to do it for the show. It would be hard to argue reality television isn't exactly like watching a balloon floating across the screen for hours at a time.

People are so starved for attention that they do outrageous things to get their 15 minutes of fame. Situations like the balloon boy case make it hard for the media to inform its audience of worthy news. The public should be hearing about important government issues and not about fake situations that occur because people are fame hungry.

What some people don't understand is that their desire for attention has an affect on others. According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said "the charges against Richard and Mayumi Heene would include conspiracy, attempting to influence a public servant, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and false reporting to authorities."

With the balloon boy example, this hoax and publicity stunt is just another example of people acting out, and as a result, it sucks up the time and energy of everyone involved in the situation, like the media and police.

"We were manipulated by the family, and the media were manipulated by the family," Alderden said.

What makes the incident even worse is that the Heene's are not setting a good example for their children. Falcon said, "We did this for a show." For the parents to drag their own child into a farce like this is proving the dangerous drive people have to be famous.

Viewers need to understand that reality television is not reality, but an illusion. If reality television were real, then it would not need a writer or director. A person does not need a director to live his or her life.

Real life means people are free to make their own choices, however, reality television tries to change that. Some of these shows might not have scripts, but the situations that the producers put these supposed average Joes in are manipulated to make them act a certain way. Therefore the show is not reality.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools