You convinced me the Hunger Games was a worthy topic to dedicate to my blog. It has not been unnoticed the number of Hunger Games books carried around the school by our middle school students. If you are like me the recent release of the movie has inspired me to pick up the book. (Yes, I am reading it as well.) Discussing the story in greater detail inspired me to spend Saturday reading. I have about 80 pages left.
In addition to being a good story, the topic is an interesting perspective on our culture and where we are potentially heading. As I talked about with the 8th grade class, there appears to be many elements described in the book which mirror the world we are living in, specifically our fascination with reality media. Television, YouTube, and Facebook, amongst others, are driving our social awareness and perception of reality. While we would like to think the Hunger Games is taking reality television to a whole new level, but how far is the stretch from what we watch today.
“Survivor” takes some number of castaways each season, drops them in some sort of desolate area and forces them to find their own water, food, and shelter. Although they are initially placed in tribes, eventually they have to pick each other off one by one. They form alliances, cheat, steal, manipulate their way to victory. Minus the killing, this sounds oddly familiar.
We seem to have a fascination with watching “real” people. It has created an entirely new genre in television and provides us all an opportunity to become famous. Throw in the internet and if you film “Charlie” biting his brother finger, you can be the most watch video clip of all time with more than 442 million views.
Why are we fascinated with watching reality media? What do you watch and why? What values and morals are promoted? Where do you think the future of television is heading?
Marya- FIRST COMMENT!!!!!! PEETA!!!!! I LOVE THIS BLOG POST!! ok anyways this is a great book series and movie because it actually has a message. And it has Peeta. It tells us that if we get too caught up in things, bad things could happen. But, we could be entertained by these bad things. Like those survivor shows. Drop people off on an island and let them survive, people get eliminated. We could easily go off track and have something bad turn entertaining. I think that most people are fascinated by the idea that this could actually happen. Thank you for your consideration.
ReplyDeleteLuke- Really? I have to go with the black guy. because he is buff like me. I think that the books were obviously a great success because it was a hit. I watch shows like sportscenter and comity central. Because i love sports so its fun to see the highlights because i hate watching whole entire games. Next, comity central always gives me a good laugh! In sportscenter no really important values are promoted but some highlights in games could be promoted like during the football season with Tebow and how we should be thankful for all that God has given us. I think people are going to get to sucked into video games and tv and get fat and die of fatness disease!
ReplyDeleteNolen- Haven’t seen the movie or read any of the books but I heard they suck. They show a lot of violence on TV and movies and stuff which is what people like, it excites them. I like violence it’s kind of cool to see people flip out on each other and fight and stuff. Let’s just hope we don’t get too crazy on TV and start really killing people. SECOUND TO POST IM SO COOL
ReplyDeleteWow i guess im third thanks a lot luke! :(
ReplyDeleteMadison- I guess we are fascinated because reality TV isn't all planned out. I mean sure they cast the people and they edit out some of the nice moments. I like to watch Dance Moms and Survivor!! I mean Dance Moms has no morals or values, but it's entertaining. Survivor teaches people how to live in the wild even though there is always help around the corner. I think TV needs to stop getting better only because people need to go outside and get some sunlight! I mean when people watch TV, they want to eat. TV isn't heading in a good direction.
ReplyDeletegabby- okay so i love the hunger games they are absolutely amazing! nolen i don't know where you heard they suck but thats not true at all. i think you are right that people have a fascination with watching other people. maybe it is because if the people on tv are doing something wrong it makes the viewers feel better about themselves. i watch the bachelor/ette, and ice watched like al the seasons. i don't know why i do because its kind of dumb because the couples always break up. there can be times where values and morals are bad and displayed on tv. i don't think we would ever get to the point where kids kill kids on national tv, thats just crazy.
ReplyDeleteAbby- I think people love to watch reality TV because anything could happen because there is no script and it is not planned out. I really like to watch Celebrity Apprentice and Survivor because it is kind of funny to see people fight each other and through each other under the bus just to win. There are no real values or morals to those shows. I really do not think that we will get to the point where we would enjoy watching kids kill each other because that would be insane.
ReplyDeleteCristina- AHHHHHH I LOVE THE HUNGER GAMES AND PEETA!!!!! and nolen, you have to read it. u cant takes someones opinion! i think reality tv is kind of dumb yet very enteraining, like the hunger games! people are fanscinated by it because they want to be like that person or they think its hilarous!i watch it becasue i learn from it, and i love it! itrs funny and teaches me no tto be like thise really stupid people some shows have. i like jersey shore and real house wives of atlanta and dance moms! hahah those shows are so stupid if i actually think about it. there are abousolutly no morals or values in any of these shows. maybe future television will be the hunger games or worse. i mean all these new shows onlike mtv or other station are just plan dumb. O I ALSO LOVE DISTRICT 11!! THRESH AND RUE ARE AWESOME! IF DISTRICT 12 DIDNT WIN,11 SHOULD OF!!
ReplyDeleteCrisitna- o and I conviced u
ReplyDeleteCooper- I think people watch reality TV is because it relaxes them and they don't have to worry about work or school for a few hours a day. Shows I watch are like the Big Bang Theory, TWO and a Half Men, and other sitcoms I watch these because their funny. Some of the things they promote unhealthy relationships, but the goal is to make you laugh. The TV studios push the limits of the FCC making it hard to prepare for whats being shown on TV.
ReplyDeleteAriana-Finally you did a blog that i am interested in!!!(team peeta:)I think people watch reality shows because anything can happen and its more realistic. I like a lot of reality tv shows but most of them dont really have any morals or values. I think the future of television could go anywhere to be honest, it could get better or worse but i guess wel just have to wait and see!
ReplyDeleteAlly- I think people are interested with reality shows because they are real and so they are more fun to watch. Yes, I watch Jersey Shore but only because it is entertaining. I mostly watch Friends because it is easily the best show in the world. It doesn't really have any morals or values though. It seems that the newer shows are getting worse and worse. For example, Disney Channel used to be so amazing, and now the old shows are gone and the new shows are stealing my name.
ReplyDeleteBrooke~ I LOVE THE HUNGER GAMES! Team Peeta! so i like watching reality tv sometimes like i watch Cheerleader Nation because the girls on it are really good and what they do is something that i would really want to do someday. I also watch Jersey Shore well because its so ridiculous and entertaining and funny but obviously not some show to take the characters as role models! its more of a what NOT to do... some reality shows seem to have really bad values and morals and even though its entertaining to watch, i wouold never do any of that stuff. i think tv future is kinda going downhill like i agree with ally about the disney channel stuff. i hope nothing like the hunger games ever really happens!
ReplyDeleteHalle- I think that the reason why we all watch "reality" television is the drama. It wouldn't be that interesting without some drama. Jersey Shore would be pretty boring if they all wore turtle necks, were nice to each other, and spent their saturday nights knitting wouldn't it? I like watching lots of reality tv shows on tlc like toddlers and tiaras and i also like watching The biggest loser and the bachelor. Most of these are entertaining to watch because of all the drama! But i also like watching funny shows like Friends and of course Icarly and Victorious. I think our future television is in a way heading towards the Hunger Games. You make yourself look good by making other look bad. But there are other shows that do have good role models for kids and don't have someone cussing every five seconds. I'm not saying that we are going to put our children in an arena to fight each other to their death but Mr. Grant has a point when he says Survivor and the Celebrity Apprentice are similar so it may seem we are heading in that direction.
ReplyDeleteWE would be in the capitol if it were the hunger games.
Peeta's hot.
Sophia-I think we like reality TV because it's a change from our lives. It seems more exciting and we kind of get to pretend to be in their lives for 30 minutes. I agree with Halle when she said that no one would want to watch reality TV if there wasn't any drama. When they show a little clip of the upcoming episodes, they always show the dramatic part so you're interested. I like to watch shows on TLC like Say Yes to the Dress and Toddlers and Tiaras. I think it's funny to watch because they take the pageants so seriously. They don't really show morals but I don't watch TV to learn morals. I think TV is eventually going to be all reality because that's what people like.
ReplyDeleteIsabelle- We are fascinated with watching reality television because of what goes on in the show. The drama, fights, and challenges are what drives people to watch the show. They pick contestants who will start drama because they know people will watch the show because of it. I watch Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, and other reality shows that show what Mr. Grant said. I watch them because they are interesting; the people and the challenges. There aren't really values in Survivor, but on Celebrity Apprentice they play to win money for charities, which is good. But, I can also see how they choose celebrites that start drama for viewers. TV is heading in a direction that I don't know if it's good or bad. Some shows promote good things, others not.
ReplyDeletePhillip- I don’t know why people are fascinated with reality TV, and I don’t get why people watch reality TV. I only watch TV when I am really bored. No values are promoted in reality TV shows. I think in the future, we will be watching overweight people dance while marrying each other on an island on TV.
ReplyDeleteDanielle- Hunger Games!!!! I think we r so nterested in reality TV because of really what happens in the show. Like all the funny, stupid fights they have and all the drama, i guess that stuff appeals to some people. I watch it becuase i think its funny and dramatic.To be honest there r really no morals in reality TV. The future of TV isnt really heading in a good path! Like alot of disney channel humor these days can b really inapropriate! Just things are starting go from funny to inapropriate funny that gives people bad examples.
ReplyDeleteAngie- THANK YOU MR. GRANT! Hunger Games is the best! I think that our society is so fascinated by reality shows is that they are so interested (or obsessed) with other people's lives. Reality shows keep us entertained. I watch the Bachelor(ette) and Dance Moms. Really bad morals and values can be promoted. ESPECIALLY with shows like Jersey Shore. I think the future of TV is not heading in a good direction in the future. They're making so many dumb shows lately. With all the survival reality shows we have, something like the Hunger Games (but not as extreme) could easily happen.
ReplyDeletejosu- i think people like to see how people will react in uncomfortable situations. We like to watch other people fight, get in arguments, and anything else like that. I watch whatever is on the TV because the shows i want to watch are not the same as anyone else in my family. I think that the things on television will continue to get worse and worse over the next hundred years. I think it would take ten-thousands of years before it will get like the Hunger Games.
ReplyDeleteJACK- AROUND THE WORLD, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WATCH REALITY TV FOR A SOURCE OF ENTERTAINMENT. I THINK THEY ARE JUST WAITING FOR THEM TO DO SOMETHING STUPID SO THAT THE PEOPLE HAVE SOMETHING TO LAUGH AT. I AGREE WITH JOSU ALSO WATCHING WHAT PEOPLE DO IN UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATIONS. I THINK THE FUNNIEST REALITY TV SHOW THAT I WATCH IS WHAT WOULD YOU DO? ON ABC. IT PUTS PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE SITUATIONS AND SEES IF RANDOM PEOPLE ON THE STREETS STEP IN AND HELP OUT WHOEVER IS IN NEED. IT SHOWS IF YOU HAVE GOOD MORALS, BECAUSE YOU WOULD STEP IN AND HELP OUT. I HOPE IT IS A LONG TIME UNTIL WE GET TO THE HUNGER GAMES STAGE
ReplyDeleteAtticus- I think that us as Americans are fasinated by this type of TV because we are interested in things that actualy could get you killed and stressfull events such as this. Honestly I dont watch TV because of one simple thing...I dont have time. I think that the future of TV is heading strait towards the hunger games. I think it is sort of blood curddleing to think that this is where we are heading.
ReplyDeleteKaed- i think that people are interested in reality media is because of all the drama that happens on the shows and also like the bachelor (stupid show), but people like to see what is going to happen next after you watch the first episode. I like to watch the voice because of the entertainment and i like to see what people advance to the next level. I honestly dont know where the TV is going to go.
ReplyDeleteMarcos- People are intrested in for reality media is because, we love to experience the excitment, drama, action, horror, and all sorts of entertainment. And people will probably get hooked on TV on the first episode of that series. Yes there will be shows that people like or dislike. I watch Rob Dyrdeks Fantasy Factory on MTV. The lesson is it that don't be afraid to try something new. Go for what your tells you to do. I think on almost all the episodes they have moral values. And probably TV will go to the next level in the future. LIke instead of having a regular TV box it will go to halograms. I don't really know what television would go in the future.
ReplyDeleteNerea- I read the first book to the hunger games and watched the movie and i didnt have the sudden urge to go kill someone. so my point it reality tv is just to entertain us sometimes it goes to extreme violence. I also watched jersey shore and its not because i like what they do on the show its becasue its very entertaiing the way they act. I think it depends on what entertains us.Im really not sure what will happen to the future with tv maybe the phones we have now will be like the old fashiond phones back then. I just really have no idea.
ReplyDeletePeter- I hate reality television. I do not know why people are fascinated by reality shows because they are phony and dumb. I do not watch, and never shall. I do not think any values or morals are promoted during any reality show, and I think a Hunger Games-like show is in the distant future, because people would probably love it.
ReplyDeleteD
ReplyDeleteKendall- I think the reason that people are so fascinated with reality shows is because it is very different from our everyday life. It's not really our reality. We don't fight all the time and we don't have that much drama. I love reality shows. They are so interesting to watch and to see how people act in such dramatic situations. I don't really think many values are promoted. Many shows are fake. But I do think that our shows will lead us in the future to act in the ways we see on tv.
ReplyDeleteZach- To be honest i don't like reality shows adn the only one i watch are Wipe Out, Ninja Warrior, and America's Got Talent. The ony reason i like those are because they are real, its average people showing their above-average talents or skills. No script, but actual people. I don't understand the facsination with reality shows, to me they jsut show garbage.
ReplyDelete