I love media. I love all types of media. I love new media. I love old media. I love social media. Media is how we learn and grow as individuals, and as communities, as societies, and nations, and as a world. Hold on. Let me rephrase that. If used properly, media his how we learn and grow as individuals, etc. I have to put that caveat in there because all media is not good media. And, much to my dismay, the more media gets into the hands of individuals, it is proving to be bad media.
It’s bad media because social media has created a wag-the-dog scenario when it comes to entertainment programming. The more we watch and tweet and post about Ratchet (aka “Reality”) TV, the more we validate its existence. We have swallowed the illogical moniker “reality” about people and programs that are the furthest from reality. In reality, people can’t fight in public places without going to jail. In reality, men cheating on their wives/girlfriends don’t get celebrated and rewarded with another season. They get divorced.
The reality about “ratchet” TV is that it is lowering the moral compass of society because it sends the unintended message that you can become “rich” and “famous” with no education, talent, or general sense of decorum. And what’s even more disturbing is that these types of shows have the highest ratings. Even shows with some discernible level of positivity gets edited down to a Hodge-podge of one-liners, orchestrated conflicts, and exaggerated stereotypes.
Therefore, I have comprised my list of the top five shows that are so ratchet, they represent The End of Civilization!
In no particular order…
1) Bad Girls Club – The irony about this Oxygen original is that its original intent was to help the young ladies improve their behavior by providing them counseling and group therapy. Apparently, helping someone achieve insight and self-actualization is not helpful to ratings. As the seasons progressed (it’s now on 12), the behavior got worse and the self-help isht went out the door. It was all about how bad they could be. Now, it’s just 20-somethings using extreme measures to stay in the house, gain a little notoriety, and earn some cash on the club circuit hosting parties. The one positive is that this show was named appropriately. It is very bad.
2) The Real Housewives Franchise – Originally, I was just going to name the Real Housewives of Atlanta. However, it was pointed out to me that all the shows are inundated with catty women perpetrating fabulous lives. It doesn’t matter if it’s Atlanta, Orange County, Beverly Hills, or New Jersey, the show’s draw has become formulaic. All My Children, Days of Our Lives, and General Hospital combined couldn’t write this much fake drama into their scripts. And what’s even more depressing is that people treat the cast members as if they are real celebrities. Congrats Bravo! You’ve struck gold. Fool’s gold, that is.
3) Basketball Wives? – I put the question mark there intentionally because most (if not all) of the women appearing on this VH1 creation are not wives. Shaunie O’Neal (Shaquille’s ex) has stretched the term wife to a new length. Jump-offs, side chicks, baby mammas, groupies, etc. have all littered the “cast” of this program. And, if that’s not bad enough, they sit around putting each other down for being exactly who they themselves are. It’s like you criticizing your reflection for having a nose too big, LOL! It’s hoes – I mean – shows like this that set self-respecting women back to pre-suffrage days. The exception being these women carry designer bags and can’t milk a cow.
4) The Love and Hip-Hop Franchise – It’s so sad that all I have to start typing in Google are the letters ‘l‘, ‘o‘, and ‘v‘ before it suggests this show as a top search. This is contrived ratchet-ness at its finest – or worse, depending on your perspective. Another VH1 creation, Love and Hip-Hop supposedly chronicles the lives of women in hip-hop. In reality, it follows the same formula of Basketball Wives with jump-offs, side chicks, baby mammas, etc. competing for the attention and affection of old rappers and producers that you’ve never heard of until the show, or are well past the prime of their careers. Hmmm? It’s interesting that no current top-selling artists want to be on this show. I wonder why?
5) 16 and Pregnant – I know you may being saying that this show doesn’t quite fit in the same category as the other four because, essentially, it is a reality show. At the same time, what purpose does it serve? In my opinion and experience with teens, putting 16-year-olds that are going through an unwanted pregnancy does not deter teens from having unprotected sex. In fact, I believe it has the exact opposite effect because someone just might want to be on the next season of MTV’s creation. I don’t think the producers had a child counselor in the discussions about this show. Let me hip you on the adolescent brain. They don’t believe that bad things will happen to them. And, being on TV in any capacity is good to this generation. Again, I’m not talking about the show’s intent. I’m talking about its impact. There is an obvious miscarriage of the message this show is trying to send.
Those are my five selections. I’m sure you have a few of your own. I’d like to hear about yours to add to my list. Tell me in the comment section below.
That’s just my three cents…
Sillethoughts
“Peep my ver-na-cular cuz I don’t know how to act…”
Sill-E Thoughts 
Gloria
02/04/2014
A great read and very insightful!
Totally unaware of programs of this type. Hopefully our society will recover before we all go to hell in a hand basket!
Molly
02/06/2014
I totally agree with you. I never liked any of those shows and I really can’t tolerate them now. Living abroad has opened my eyes to many things. You can’t even imagine the number of people that have met me who have told me that they didn’t know black women like me existed. All of these shows send negative messages at home and abroad.