“Why is Kim Kardashian a tab on the Washington Post’s web site?”

   When I heard my friend ask this question, I couldn’t help but laugh. I envisioned the category posts running across the top of the page: “NEWS.SPORTS.POLITICS.KIM KARDASHION.OPINION.”

   As someone who deals with a newspaper website, I’m fully aware of how easy it is to make a

mistake. Accidentally making a Kim Kardashian category seems like a stretch, but it could happen. Alas, upon checking the Washington Post website myself, I discovered the celebrity’s name was not on the category list, but was a tab on the website’s “Hot Topic” list. The choices that appear on the list this week include Condoleezza Rice, Michelle Rhee and the Erlich-O’Malley debate. So, what puts Kim Kardashian in the same realm of importance as such political entities?

                                                                                              Americans have fallen in love with Reality television. Since the start of The Real World in 1992 and CBS’s Survivor in 2002, the industry has gone platinum. These shows were started with many worries and few expectations.  In short, they became the first of a new generation. MTV itself is home to a plethora of reality shows including: Jersey Shore, True Life, Is She Really Going Out With Him, Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant…Etc. etc. etc.

   Clearly these shows are popular, but why? Where does our seeming obsession with watching less-than-average people party, fight, make fools of themselves (or do absolutely nothing) come from?

    Reality Television is the ultimate enigma. Ironically, Viewers tune in to Reality TV with hopes of escaping reality. Psychology Today did a study in which they asked people the appeal Reality Television holds. One of the biggest reasons given for watching the genre was the desire for “status.” Average people love turning on the television to watch other average people. There, right on the television screen, sits a once-uninteresting and inconspicuous average Joe. The lonely Moe can get wrapped up in a budding romance on Jersey Shore, the diffident office clerks can find certain excitement by watching people survive in the wilderness on Survivor, and the unsuccessful dieter can revel in people’s success on the Biggest Loser.

   Perhaps, Living vicariously through Realty TV stars is so much easier than actually doing something.

   Another appeal found in the Psychology Today survey was that viewers enjoy watching “ethical slips.” No one can deny that they feel better about cheating or lying when they know someone else is doing it. Watching supposed “real people” on television do the same things we are all ashamed of (but can’t stop ourselves form doing) makes us feel so much better inside. No one wants to admit this in person, but we all know it’s true. It is an animal instinct. Watching someone turn their back on a team mate on Survivor or watching Snooki and J-Wow fight on Jersey Shore makes us all feel a little better about the times we’ve done similar things, or, makes us feel a little better because we know we’re classier than that.

    It seems that, at its core, Reality TV is the same as every other major media ploy. It exploits our natural insecurities. They know what we don’t have and what we wish we had.