This is a big prlobem, because reality TV is establishing new standards of interpersonal behavior that are, at best, psychotic, and at worst, insidiously abhorrent, self-obsessed, consumerist, racist, homophobic and misogynistic.'But as you rightly point out later in the article, these characteristics have been present in TV since the medium was invented. You can't get a little bit pregnant there is no such thing as good TV. At best, at least for me, I think all I can do is watch it with an attempt at a critical eye, knowing I've been damaged just the same. And while reality TV is vulgar in perpetuating these stereotypes, we live in an age of vulagarity and increasing scarcity (at least so far as our very affluent country is concerned), and people wallow in easy hates in times like this. Reality TV sometimes seems to me like a bad hybrid between yellow journalism and a 30 s dance till you drop contest, but it's operating on the old lines where steretypes and hierarchy are concerned. 0