“We’ve accepted the fraud that is “reality” TV for too long, but now there is a surge in entertainment ordinary people can actually relate to — things that celebrate the lives of average human beings.” — Brianna Patterson
Americans have an obsession with glamour. We live in a society that glorifies wealth and perfection. From music to soap operas, we love to admire the lifestyles of the rich and famous, the young and the beautiful. Songs on the radio constantly talk about throwing lavish parties or having enough money to “make it rain” on strippers. I don’t know anyone with that kind of money, and I would rather save my dollar bills on something a little more practical.
This vanity is getting old and tiring. We know by now the Kardashians will be wearing the best clothes, shoes and makeup on every episode — so why even tune in? The problems rich housewives and socialites face when being followed around by cameras all day have no resemblance to my personal life. We’ve accepted the fraud that is “reality” TV for too long, but now there is a surge in entertainment ordinary people can actually relate to — things that celebrate the lives of average human beings.
We have to accept that “we’ll never be royals,” as Lorde would put it. Her song “Royals” discredits the lavish lifestyle of luxury that often is praised in our culture. Speaking with Interview Magazine, the singer denounced the hackneyed ideals pushed by artists such as Drake and Nicki Minaj: “They all sing about such opulence, stuff that just didn’t relate to me — or anyone that I knew. I began thinking, ‘How are we listening to this? It’s completely irrelevant.’”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
It’s the difference between Sex and the City and Girls. The two shows center on a similar concept: four girl friends dealing with the ups and downs of life in bustling New York. You’ll find just as much sex and city in Girls as you would in its predecessor, but it ditches the penthouse in Manhattan with bedroom-sized shoe closets for mundane apartments and lifestyles. The main character, Hannah Horvath is a writer and occasional barista with friends who are students, unemployed soul-searchers or alcoholic hippies. Sure, not many of us have a Jessa in our lives, but more people can relate to the struggle of balancing a social life and school or suddenly living on your own when you’ve depended on parents for all of your life.
The fact that Girls and Lorde are so popular illustrates there are many people who support the resurrection of the average person as a celebrity. Sitcoms portraying down-to-earth lifestyles have reached new heights of fame and popularity by depicting demographics often overlooked for superficial standards of perfection. While we still saw ordinary people on TV more often in the ’80s and ’90s — think of The Cosby Show, Roseanne and Full House — the style is coming back. The outlandish and heartwarming antics of the unconventional yet ordinary clan on Modern Family are much more familiar than the Kardashians, while the hit series The Big Bang Theory — the highest-rated comedy on television — portrays nerds (albeit exaggerated nerds) rather than the more conventional ladies men.
We watch ostentatious shows because we have a yearning to be a part of the upper class. We see the fame and all of its glory and put it on a pedestal to be worshiped and lusted after. But when you take away the glitz and the glamour, you see real human beings — not a facade but their real selves. The average human experience is something to be proud of. Imperfection and struggle is the nature of life. It’s about time we saw it in our art.
