Daily Decrees

Beginning January 1, 2011, your all powerful yet benevolent despot will make one decree daily that will become instant and unquestionable law. Though it is said that absolute power corrupts absolutely, it is yet unkown whether absolute imagined power corrupts. Perhaps it merely corrupts the imagination. We'll find out as Marisa, the newly ordained Queen of the World, attempts to change the world for the better by making 365 unilateral decisions. Ultimately though, it doesn't really matter whether you agree with her decisions or not. So feel free to comment as long as you understand your comments are in vain. In all honesty though your queen is hopeful that you will consider the vast majority of her decrees to be the kind of decisions you wish your previous leaders had made years ago. The best part of being the supreme ruler of the world is that changes can be made easily. There are no agreements to be reached, no protocols to follow, and no bureaucratic red tape...and that is the whole point.

Monday, February 28, 2011

February 26, 2011 – You Aren’t Special Part VI: Parting with Reality

Considering the theme of the week it’s about time I tackle the 6-foot-gorilla in the room – Reality TV – one of the ultimate culprits in creating the false sense of specialness that plagues the most average of people today.  But I can’t just ban it completely.  That would be easy…and probably best; but the genre does include some of my own guilty pleasures so I will need to be selective.  For the most part what I think really needs to go are those shows that glorify bad behavior and sadly, those are probably the shows people love the most.  For example, the previews for the new season of “Celebrity Apprentice” highlight crazy celebrities about to come to blows.  The show is also an entertaining competition that does a lot of charity work, but that is not why viewers tune in.  It’s unfortunate.  Much like the problem with crazy people on talk shows, the more the general public sees bad and crazy behavior the more they become accustomed to it and that means that it will take even crazier behavior to be considered shocking.  Makers of these programs sometimes argue that the point of showing bad behavior is to serve as an example of what not to do.  At least that is the theory behind shows like “16 and Pregnant”.  If you see the consequences of other peoples’ bad behavior or mistakes, you will be dissuaded from following in that path.  The problem with that is that one consequence of this awful behavior is fame.  All publicity can be considered good publicity if you are crazy enough.  We sane people still retain the ability to be embarrassed. 
So what to do about this problem?      
Reality TV shows must have a greater purpose than displaying crazy or bad behavior.
Ok I realize that’s pretty vague.  I think what we need is a professional panel to analyze reality shows and determine whether or not a show has no greater worth than pandering to our base desire to see self-destruction.  The line is not going to be clear but it’s something that I hope can be worked out over time.  If we are going to allow the average person to have their 15 minutes of fame, let’s at least try to ensure that is will be for positive reasons.
As always I remain your all-powerful and benevolent Queen of the World,
Marisa

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