The Paostian Deal

This post is one day late.

Last Sunday, I watched the premier of the TV show Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) Teen Edition. I was determined to enjoy the show for Monday eve's sake, until one of the contestants said:

In fairness, she made me laugh.

Perhaps it was her youth that made her say that. Maybe even naivety. Girl, you're on TV, in a show where you're made to do crazy things with a bunch of pretentious other people. That is reality to you?

Hey wait, she's right, that is reality! Everyone's. We live, doing shitty things just to please other people who, on the other hand, play politico and pretend to enjoy your company. Then we believe that we're fine and think about how to please them again tomorrow. So PBB. So TV.

Television recreates reality. That's the general motto. And the countless number of reality-TV shows takes it one step higher. I watch the tube mainly for entertainment. (Read: I get amused by the most trivia-ish of all things, and even laugh at the most teribble of news sometimes.) The "getting information" part comes only second. This is because TV gives me--heck, all of us--the chance to escape the manic life that is reality. It's something light I get to do after a consuming day. I get to laugh in front of the tube and momentarily forget that even if our company is now rat-poor. That's enough for me.

And now I hear this girl looking for life's realities in a TV show. Well, PBB is all about "real lives and real people", but still it's TV. No matter how much you dismiss it, you can't escape the fact that stories and lines written by man shape that world. It doesn't matter where it's based, it's still not real--TV only looks real. Expecting much more from it is pretty dumb.