Comparing Reality TV with One's Own Reality

I tend to watch reality TV shows with my family, as it is something that makes us bond...and give us something to bitch about. When we watch these shows, we tend to see people on them that remind us of people we know in real life. When I watch "Duck Dynasty," they remind me a bit of my dad's side of the family. Now, they do not do any hunting, nor do they have a billon dollar business. But, the characters on the show and their behavior and mannerisms remind me a lot of my grandparents, aunts, and uncles in my family that come from my dad's side. They are a rural family and have been farming since the 1940s and still going strong. They tend to be a little more...out of the loop with today's society and seem to be a little more traditional leaning, while still trying to get their foot into the modern day. They can be really goofy like the "Duck Dynasty" folk. In fact, Uncle Si reminds me way too much of my grandpa, from the excessive amounts of tea to the metaphors he cooks up. It's like they were long lost brothers. Not only do I like the show for the characters and the things they do, but the fact it reminds me of my family makes me relate to the characters just a little bit. Another show that I tend to compare people I know or my mother knows is "Real Housewives." My mom knows several people like the housewives on the show, and through her, I know a few of them too, and I can see how my mom thinks some of the ladies she knows remind her of the housewives. Now, they are not as looney tunes and wealthy as the ladies on "Housewives," but they can be pretty gossipy, dress extravagantly for no reason at all (well, extravagant for a town in Indiana, that is), and can come off a bit bitchy. My mom thinks that a coldesac in the neighborhood is where the "Housewives" reside and do their bitching and partying there. One other show that reminds me of a person I know in real life is "Dance Moms." Now, I only know of this show through my sister. I DO NOT WATCH. But, I am familiar with the head honcho of the show that they call Abby Lee. She tends to remind me a LOT of a girl I dated's mother. What makes it funnier is that the girl I dated was a dancer and was very good too, going to state and everything in high school, and her mom was at every meet, getting down and getting with it with the best of them. The cherry on top though? Her mother recently dressed up as Abby Lee for Halloween. Basically, she was being herself, but much more glamourous. Even though these reality shows can come off as a little much and hardly believable, there are times where I feel they can nail certain stereotypes right on the head. But, in my case, what makes it reality television is the fact that these characters in these shows can remind one of somebody they know, making the whole reality deal all the clearer to me.