By Lillian Murray
Growing up, I had always enjoyed watching reality television shows such as Jersey Shore and America’s Next Top Model. I was drawn to shows that seemed authentic and real rather than the scripted shows on Nickelodeon and Disney.
As I got older, it was evident that my perception of reality TV was flawed, but I still enjoyed the chaotic and unfiltered narratives.
Reality television is designed to be entertaining and involve real people and situations. Initially I had thought that reality TV was not scripted at all and these people just had crazy lives or dreams.
Once I realized that the stories and characters are not entirely fabricated, just embellished greatly, I found it easy to compare myself to them and lust over the characters.
Popular reality television shows highlight this glorification including shows such as “Keeping up with the Kardashians,” “America’s Next Top Model,” “Simple Life,” and “American Idol.” Viewers, for the first time, held the ability to see “actors” in an apparent authentic light. It became a lot easier to resonate with the characters being shown.
Specific girls on these shows, such as Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Paris Hilton and Arianna Madix, made enormously successful careers by emphasizing their beauty, relationships and fun lives. Watching these women rise to fame in real time and in a light that shows their unseen lives had a strong influence on viewers.
It made the idea of being a famous celebrity seem achievable if you focus on certain narratives aligning with physical appearance.
Originally watching these shows, it was just entertainment through a more transparent and relaxed lens. This slowly encouraged the idea that if I wanted to be like them, I could.
When watching these shows at a young age, I was subconsciously normalizing the lifestyle of girls twice my age who are dedicated to weight loss and care solely about appearances.
As a young impressionable kid, it can become a normal thought that these girls are on TV because of their looks, and if you focus enough on your looks and weight, you can be a glamorous celebrity just like them.
One thing that has definitely stuck with me and many other girls was the idea that an ideal way to better yourself or change is through a physical transformation. Within these shows, we see a lot of drama and feelings, usually followed by the actress changing her physical appearance.
One notable example is Jenner using plastic surgery to improve herself. Throughout “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” we see Jenner continuously getting new lip fillers, botox and implants throughout her body. I honestly anticipated growing up and getting botox would be a common thing among women my age or older, and was surprised to see that it was an abnormal thing for people who are not famous.
Another example of a reality star changing her physical appearance in order to better herself is Khloe Kardashian, who has been in the reality industry since her teenage years.
At the beginning of Kardashian’s career, she received a ton of backlash, most of which was about her weight. Throughout the show we are shown her weight loss journey in full transparency, as she said she wants to include viewers to inspire those to better themselves.
Despite the amount of diversity throughout the reality television industry, the narratives that turned these women from actors on a show to superstars are all the same.
Women who prioritize relationships and physical appearance demonstrate that their exciting life will get you fans and fame.
These actors’ narratives can be impressionable on everyone, but developing girls are particularly vulnerable because it now appears easier to copy these stars’ lifestyles, due to the new transparent light shown with reality TV.
