It is simple fact that you would have needed to live on a deserted island in say the South China Sea, to have avoided being swept away by the initial Survivor mania. As a self-proclaimed channel surfer, "hang ten for me means hit the TIVO while I hit the kitchen for a quick snack, so I admit freely I have seen the ebb and flow, the wax and wane of all kinds of programming branded reality and now find myself wondering what does "reality" really mean?
Sure when someone eats a worm or a bug, jumps from a plane or hikes up her bloomers in Paris all in the name of love we know we are watching something absurd, but that worm slides down slow and slimy and with no stunt double waiting in the wings.
But what about the new age of reality? What I have come to call "dramality". Oh you know full well what I am talking about as we each sit glued to the television as The ladies of Wysteria Lane take to a neighborhood just similar enough to our own to make the gay son, the Bipolar teenager, and the plumber every woman dreams of real enough to keep us hooked
"Dramality", from the operating room of Grey's Anatomy to those desperate but delightful housewives what makes this new genre so much more appealing?
In my opinion, we simply need a short break from reality and this is just enough to "keep it real" without the "reality hangover". In fact, the equation seems quite simple or maybe I am simply justifying that fact that I think I have a desperate housewife trapped inside me.
When we watch Extreme Home Makeover (and I do, loving every minute of it; although why won't Sears donate a hairbrush for TY?) When the sun sets on that fabulicious new house we still have a very real a little girl or boy who remains terminally ill, a wife who has lost her beloved husband or a family torn apart by mother nature.
But when Brea takes a bottle of whiskey and a crystal goblet to bed or "McDreamy" breaks another heart in the Emergency Room. I think to myself, "I know what it feels like to want to escape life, to live within an imperfect family trying to keep the mask and the masquerade in tact, I know what it is like to work long hours for a seemingly uncaring boss and have friends desert me in my time of need.
Ah, "dramality" that place we can go day after day channel after channel where even though it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it isn't the SWAN and dealing with reality is really quite simple. As your Average Joe is not quite average and we can find solace and safety in knowing Teri Hatcher fell in love with Superman but a decade ago so she will find love again
Dramality reigns supreme, unless of course I walk into work today only to hear The Donald say, "You're fired". I'll keep you posted.
http://www.conceptsinsuccess.com
Joshua Estrin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joshua M. Estrin (born 1970) is the leader/creator of the new Generation X, Generation_Y and Generation_M Anti-Self Help Movement, created out of a mix of traditional models of change including solution focused therapy and life coaching. He was brought to wide public attention in 2004 as one of the gay community’s most colorful and controversial advocates in a highly publicized lawsuit against a decade-old LGBT charity.
By 2002, he was dubbed a “rogue” in his field of mental health and established relationships with several celebrities including Ian McKellen, Joan Rivers, and Lady Chablis.
His bestseller, Shut Up! and Listen to Yourself openly challenged the likes of Dr. Phil and Dr. Laura, and encouraged individuals to follow an inner expert or compass rather than believing they were “broken and needed to be fixed.”
As a regular guest on CNN, FOX, FOX News, Good Morning America and hundreds of radio shows across the nation he has acquired a following that believe in the anti-expert, anti-self help movement
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