From Wife Swapping to Weight Loss: Scholars on the Cultural Value of Reality TV

When you flip on the television, you will come across it. Even if you change the channel, you cannot escape it. It is a phenomenon. It is a trend. It is reality TV, and scholars are beinning to talk about it. From singing to wife swapping to weight loss, daily life can now be documented, recorded and turned into a hit series.

At your fingertips, or your remote, is a glimpse into the lives of others, at least for the duration of the show. During that thirty minute or hour time block, scholars discussed the relationships viewers develop with the characters on the screen.

"We can cheer for someone. We can root for someone from week to week and we get to know them. It's almost as if we have invited them into our homes," Amber Narro of Southeastern Louisiana University said.

However, the significance goes beyond the desire to watch and cheer for those on the show. Scholars discussed the cultural values that are reflected in reality television as well.

"In The Bachelor, the women achieve the men. In Survivor, the competitors are rewarded for their activity. It's all about competition," Narro said.

Society's fixation with competition and winning has viewers watching and scholars fascinated.

"I think it's important to study beause so many people watch it. I watch it. Everbody watches it, and if people say they don't watch it. I think they're lying. It's unavoidable," Amanda Scheiner of Temple University said.

There are currently over 200 reality television shows. The widespread audience is leaving an impact worth analyzing.

"Reality TV has to be taken into consideration, it has been around for so long. Scholars have to begin looking at it now," Narro said.