television vs. Reality Essay -- essays research papers

It is 830 Monday night and the whole family is in the living room notice the Fox networks primetime hit Ally McBeal. Suddenly, just by and by the program resumes by and by a painstakingly long commercial break, you watch over a man and a woman lying in enjoy talking to each other after having a night of hot, emotional sex. You look down and see your ten year old word of honor or daughter lying on the floor just unadulterated at the TV, taking it all in. You begin channel surfing, and give the axe up on channel 3, CBS. on that point is a brand new sitcom existence aired called Some of My Best Friends. Almost immediately after you and your family begin viewing this program, two men, both proclaiming to be gay, begin gorgerin and embracing each other. Upset by all of this garbage, you twine off the TV and decide to try and find something a lower-ranking more educational to do.Sex. It seems to be e actuallywhere on television system today. From sitcoms to cr occupyion shows to dramas to welt operas, sex is one of the leading factors in most television programs. A recent study showed that 3 out of 4 primetime programs salute 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 centre on education and childrens programming, but the mainstream of primetime television programs tends to focus on sex. But how accurate is televisions portrayal of sex in the real world? Does everything turn out like it does on shows such as Sex in the City or Temptation Island? Or are these sexual pass ons just an obvious ploy to table service supercharge ratings? Recently I have watched several shows I thought would help answer these questions. The programs I have researched are Friends, one of NBCs highest rated shows, Everybody Loves Raymond, a family sitcom on CBS, and Days of Our Lives, one of NBCs 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 alike compare relationships between love and sex, anger and love, friendship and romantic love, and alternatives to straight relationships.The first television program I researched is the critically acclaimed NBC sitcom, Friends. Upon viewing this show, I fo... ...n an interracial relationship or marriage. This sends the message that people of a received race or culture should marry someone that is like them. There have been rumors, however, of a new character on 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. The average teen views more or less 15,000 sexual references, innuendoes, and jokes on television every year, according to Electronic setting hen Overexposes Youth to Sex, a CNN report by Hol ly Firfer. If these messages are inaccurate, what patient of 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 write talent, so why bother with an 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 depart? There is much more in this world than sex, and television should try to portray real life situations as accurately as possible.