Rock Star Rupernova

“Rock Star Rupernova”  has achieved the status of Most-Watched Television Show In Icelandic History.  Magni Ásgeirsson, an Icelandic singer competing with a bunch of Americans, an Aussie and an African, is the reason for this.  This is the first “reality tv” show I’ve watched and really enjoyed.  While I think they don’t have to drag it out so much (it was obvious that some of the contestants should have been dropped weeks ago) and all of the suspense that underwear model and bubblehead Brooke Banks tries to muster is completely lost on me, I enjoy the show and I like the concept.  But when I started writing an email about it, I realized that I should just blog what I have to say.
I just want to remind people that the stuff that passes for reality on tv is only reality in so much as the people are not acting scripted characters.  Take “Survivor” as an example.  If I were designing a show to be called Survivor it would be about survival.  I mean, it would be interesting to see a bunch of Americans sent out into the wilderness somewhere to really survive on their own without killing each other.  By survive, I mean, find food and build shelter while avoiding being eaten by jaguars or killed by angry natives trying to protect their land or infection of one of the myriad diseases we in the West have been protected from for generations through vaccination and medicines.  “The Apprentice” is not reality either.  You merely have to write a resumeé, and go for a couple of interviews to get hired by a big company.  “The Bachelor and Bachelorette” are shows that make me retch.  How is it that whoring yourself out has not only become acceptable, but makes you desirable?!  Who cares about which team can rebuild a decrepit house the fastest?  Sure, in “The Amazing Race” you can get around the world quickly on someone else’s dime, but why not have a show about reality where the contestants are spending their own money?  And the worst one is “Fear Factor”!  What is there to be afraid of?!  You’ve got safety ropes and air bags and emergency teams and professionals giving you advice, etc. or the scaring thing is eating something disgusting until you puke!  Boring!  That show would be a whole lot more interesting if there was actually an element of fear of mortal injury.  How about making the Fear Factor contestants swim through shark infested waters blindfolded carrying a paper bag full of pig blood or a running race through one of the outskirts of Baghdad wrapped in an American flag holding a sign that says “Thanks for the oil.  I’m glad your kid was burned to death!”  We’d see some real heated competition and fear there!  
The real problem here is that, for the most part, people watch tv in order to escape reality!  I know there are a lot of news shows and documentaries and these are the real Reality tv.