television vs. Reality Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is 8:30 Monday night and the whole family is in the living room watching the Fox network’s primetime hit â€Å"Ally McBeal†. Suddenly, just after the program resumes after a painstakingly long commercial break, you see a man and a woman lying in bed talking to each other after having a night of hot, passionate sex. You look down and see your ten year old son or daughter lying on the floor just staring at the TV, taking it all in. You begin channel surfing, and end up on channel 3, CBS. There is a brand new sitcom being aired called â€Å"Some of My Best Friends†. Almost immediately after you and your family begin viewing this program, two men, both proclaiming to be gay, begin kissing and embracing each other. Upset by all of this â€Å"garbage†, you turn off the TV and decide to try and find something a little more â€Å"educational† to do.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sex. It seems to be everywhere on television today. From sitcoms to reality shows to dramas to soap operas, sex is one of the leading factors in most television programs. A recent study showed that 3 out of 4 primetime programs portray sex in relationships and 68% of all television programs contain sexual content (Cutler, Jacqueline, TVData Features Syndicate March 24,2001). There are exceptions to this, however, with networks occasionally focusing on education and children’s programming, but the mainstream of primetime television programs tends to focus on sex. But how accurate is television’s portrayal of sex in the real world? Does everything turn out like it does on shows such as â€Å"Sex in the City† or â€Å"Temptation Island†? Or are these sexual messages just an obvious ploy to help boost ratings? Recently I have watched several shows I thought would help answer these questions. The programs I have researched are â€Å"Friends †, one of NBC’s highest rated shows, â€Å"Everybody Loves Raymond†, a family sitcom on CBS, and â€Å"Days of Our Lives†, one of NBC’s daytime soap operas. In viewing these shows I hope to compare the key message behind sex and relationships in these programs to real life. I will also compare relationships between love and sex, anger and love, friendship and romantic love, and alternatives to heterosexual relationships.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first television program I researched is the critically acclaimed NBC sitcom, â€Å"Friends†. Upon viewing this show, I fo... ...n an interracial relationship or marriage. This sends the message that people of a certain race or culture should marry someone that is like them. There have been rumors, however, of a new character on â€Å"Friends† that is going to be African-American. If this character does appear, then maybe it will encourage more programs to end endogamy and introduce characters of different race and cultures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The average teen views nearly 15,000 sexual references, innuendoes, and jokes on television every year, according to â€Å"Electronic Babysitter Overexposes Youth to Sex†, a CNN report by Holly Firfer. If these messages are inaccurate, what kind of messages are teens receiving? In the same article, Firfer gave reasons for sex on television. First, Americans seem to eat it up with a spoon. Second, Hollywood has a lack of real writing talent, so why bother with an â€Å"intelligent† story? This seems to be very true, since every year there are more television shows being produced that primarily focus on sex. When will this sexual addiction cease? There is much more in this world than sex, and television should try to portray real life situations as accurately as possible.