The Reality of Meerkats

Today I came across Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet. It is a cute show about the lives of meerkats and how they interact with each other. So while I was watching, getting sucked into the dramas of these small animal's lives, it dawned on me that this show was no different than any other human reality show. According to Wikipedia, meerkats are "very social, living in colonies averaging 20-30 members. Animals in the same group regularly groom each other to strengthen social bonds."

I was shocked at how the show was set up. The main characters have microphones around their necks and the narrator describes the play by play of each scene. To me, I found the events going on no different than the Real Life, The Hills, Rob and Big, or any other show. So if these 2 pound mammals act, communicate, fight, and love like these pseudo idols that we look up to, what does that make us the viewers? If this show about meerkats has been able to stay on tv, do we as a society watch it because they are cute, or because we can relate to their lives?

All reality shows are essentially the same, but with different characters and situations. Each show has the definitive roles that must be played. The girl next door, the bad boy, the daredevil, etc. How is it possible that these roles can be found in Meerkat Manor? Do the meerkats themselves see these roles in their societies, or are their brains too basic to understand their social standings? Do we as Americans now create these labels for everyone and everything? In every movie, band, tv show, book, we have these roles. So why do we call reality tv real? What is real about being able to predict that the ending, and the actions of all the characters? Have we become so used to these roles that we now have a warped sense of reality? In Meerkat Manor, are the things going on even real? How do we know that what is on our tv screens isn't just more fabricated bullshit? Maybe meerkats are just animals. Nothing more. They are not reality stars and do not conform to these molds that the media has made for them.

I believe that all of the people willing to go on these shows are just as helpless as these meerkats are. They have no say in how their lives will be projected to the rest of the world. If America doesn't want to see Wilson succeed, well then lets tell the viewers Wilson died. Lets continue lying and still call this reality tv.

So when reality tv isn't real, what is?