Reality television has taken over the airwaves in every conceivable way. Unfortunately, when MTV started “The Real World”, we began an intellectual downward spiral that has completely spun out of control. Casting for “The Real World: Appalachia” and “Survivor: Northern Saskatchewan” can’t be too far off. We have watched as families have swapped wives, suitors have rifled through potential dates’ belongings, and B-List celebrities have people competing in challenges to prove themselves worthy. Personal dignity was clearly taking a backseat here.
And then the reality shows began giving birth to little baby reality shows. Flavor Flav, the decrepit, tiny, ancient giant-clock-wearing rapper “starred” on VH1’s “The Surreal Life”, in which he was put in a house with other people who had once been famous for something. When he hooked up with Sly Stallone’s ex, the engaged Amazon Brigitte Nielsen, they got their own reality show “Strange Love”. When that didn’t work out, Flav got his own show “Flavor of Love”, in which 20 or so skanks competed for his love. Then, the ultimate skank (and probably tranny) nicknamed ‘New York’—who failed to win Flav’s love TWICE—got her own show “I Love New York”, in which 20 or so morons competed for her bits ‘n pieces. Are you keeping up?
After clearly running out of ways to allow real people to embarrass themselves in front of an international audience, the networks finally decided to get their hands basic-cable-worthy dirty. “Arranged Marriage” is a new show that will follow four people who have a spouse chosen for them by either family or producers (details are fuzzy, but I’d put my money on producers, who want good tv, not good marriages.
I'd Rather Die Old and Alone With 30 Cats.
On the show, these four people, aged 25 to 45, who have apparently ‘failed’ by not finding a suitable mate by their advanced ages, will exchange wedding rings and vows FIRST and then let cameras follow them as they begin their lives as husband and wife. Previous shows have touched on the subject before, but never to this degree. In Fox’s “Married by America”, viewers got to choose the future spouses of the contestants–which had to be a pathetic, embarrassing thing to watch. None of those unions, however, turned into a ceremony with wedding rings and the actual legal marriage. CBS starts with the vows and rings and goes from there.
Okay, so some cultures embrace this tradition. Arranged marriages are still common in some countries. More power to them. Those customs have been around forever and have their place.
That place is not on network television. As much as the term “sanctity of marriage” turns my stomach, it wouldn’t hurt to try to maintain some of it. Maybe some ‘dignity of marriage’ at least? Or how about ‘freedom to choose your own life-long mate’?
Perhaps after the producers at CBS throw these people into marriages that make good tv, they can later show us the sequel: “I Shoulda Gotten a Pre-Nup”.
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