It all started with “The Real World.” Now it’s “The Hills” and “Jersey Shore.” It seems the television industry has been able to appeal to the interests of almost everyone through the advent of reality TV.

In the past four years, my viewership of MTV has declined drastically. I’m sorry if I am the only person left who believes that Music Television should play, well, music. I must admit, though, that there is one show that has caught my interest lately.

The first step is acknowledging that I have a problem. I am no longer in denial. My name is Valisa Griffin, and my guilty pleasure is is “Teen Mom.”

I do not believe that I am genuinely interested in the misadventures of teenage mothers and their quests to find their own identities as they raise their children. It is like a train wreck. The scene is so fascinating, yet it is so gruesome.

I try to talk myself out of watching. I tell myself about all the better things I could be doing with my time, but I just cannot look away. I find myself waiting anxiously, chomping Cheetos to pass time until the commercial break ends.

My issue with “Teen Mom” is not that people are willing to have their every word and action aired on national television. I simply do not understand the motive of the people behind the camera. Or maybe I understand it all too well.

Reality television is much cheaper to produce than sitcoms or dramas.

You need fewer staff members because the more intricate positions are all but eliminated. There is no need to scout a location or design wardrobes or hire actors. You simply point and shoot.

I think the stories of teen moms are important ones that deserve to be chronicled. I think their hardships are significant and should be illuminated.

My issue is primarily with the motivation of the multi-million dollar company that gives them this outlet.

They don’t care about these women’s lives. They don’t care about the valuable lessons that we learn from them.

Their focus is making a profit without having to spend an arm and a leg on production costs.

As I said before, I am guilty. I may even need an intervention, and if I do, there is a reality television show for that, too.

It is our responsibility as viewers to be ever-conscious of what we’re really watching. We are the gatekeepers of our media. And if we don’t like it, they won’t air it.

Author