Deep down, people have weird desires. Some use drugs to find fulfillment. And others take on the role of reality harlot - getting their fix by displaying their hidden fantasies for national amusement.
People feel entitled to a piece of the spotlight and are willing to use any means to get it. Adults adopt this "look-at-me" attitude - these people will do anything to get the attention of someone, anyone.
The original reality "stars" pushed their way into the limelight for semi-legitimate reasons. Some participants from the first season of The Real World dreamed of being actors, models or musicians. Their appearance on television set their careers into motion.
Pedro Zamora, one of the first Real World participants, openly shared his homosexuality and the fact that he had AIDS on television. In the mid-nineties, American people weren't entirely comfortable with this. However, Zamora made these sensitive subjects more approachable and was commended by President Bill Clinton for his activism after his death in 1994.
Zamora's castmate David Rainey, the notorious Puck, took a different approach during his time on The Real World. During filming, Puck managed to alienate his housemates with his disgusting and offensive behavior.
Accused of infrequent sock changes and using the same finger to both pick his nose and scoop some shared peanut butter, it's obvious why his housemates were disgusted by his questionable hygiene. Even more appalling was his white-supremacist shirt and homophobic behavior.
Puck experienced fleeting fame, the highlight being an appearance in an Eminem video.
The differences between Zamora and Puck's treatment of their television times are stark. While Zamora's time in the spotlight did some good, Puck took the low road. And America embraced his crude behavior, determining the fate of future reality shows.
Soon shows exploded out of nowhere: dating shows, eating shows, modeling shows. And people began to be famous for simply existing. They found a way to capitalize on reality - a brand of reality that wasn't quite the norm.
Now that the reality buzz has really taken over American pop culture, people are willing to do anything to get the attention they feel they deserve, and those doing the bad deeds are usually guaranteed more air time.
Richard Heene felt his family deserved their own reality show. And after pulling the balloon boy hoax - causing the whole country to think his six-year-old son was in danger - he's definitely in the spotlight.
This attempt for fame doesn't seem worth it. Social workers are looking into his family, and he and his wife are facing felony charges. But Heene got the attention he wanted.
Tareq and Michaele Salahi became headline news overnight when they allegedly crashed a White House state dinner. Their objective, however, wasn't to protest Obama's administration or to meet influential leaders.
Mrs. Salahi just really, really wants to be on the reality show The Real Housewives of D.C.
In this case, it's hard to tell what really happened. The Salahis might have had noble reasons for doing the ultimate party crash. Or they might be ridiculous people who felt they needed a little extra media attention to get on a reality show.
No matter what, showing up uninvited at an Obama shindig definitely won't be taken lightly, and if the Salahis are found to have somehow worked around the Secret Service, they'll be facing serious charges.
Just like Heene, the Salahi's chose momentary fame over a clean legal record. Unlike Zamora, these people took things to a new level of deception in the name of reality television.
The "look-at-me" mindset shouldn't have such a strong impact on people, but this strange relationship between reality television and viewers has a double standard. Viewers love the escape and vicariously enjoy the reality fabricated for their viewing pleasure. And the stars of reality shows get off on exploiting themselves.
Reality shows were once a gateway to modeling jobs or an outlet to advocate change. Now the shows are much more than a gateway drug, they're like heroin - dangerous to get involved in and often leading to an arrest record.
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