Let’s start with a simple question: what is reality? Being an archaeologist, I like old things; so I turned to my copy of that first dictionary of the English language, by the great Dr. Samuel Johnson (my version is a later edition, first published in 1843 and re-published by Studio Editions of London, in 1994). Johnson defined reality as ‘Truth; verity; what is, not what merely seems.’ And it’s that last bit that’s crucial here: what is, not what merely seems. The fact is that all ‘reality’ television is about what merely seems. Yes, I’d agree those over-paid half-wits living in a phoney house somewhere in TV-land are ‘real’ in that they are playing-out a version of life that their producers think viewers want to see; but in no way can it be said to be anything more than what merely seems. Their antics have nothing to do with…
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