Mahatma Gandhi once said that we must be the change that we wish to see in the world.

Last night I did something very, very out of character.

I sat down and watched a marathon of Beauty and the Geek.

I hear some of you groaning, and believe me, I felt the same way. I ended up comparing it to a train wreck: Its something you know you shouldnt stare at, but human nature just forces you to keep on looking.

Sadly I can now say that I understand why people watch reality shows, even if they are just edited together pieces of scripted and rehearsed reality.

Predictably enough a show like Beauty and the Geek requires two of the cast members to fall in love for real to give it some kind of legitimacy. And two of them did, though Im sure that the relationship will sour as soon as the show ends.

Contrary to popular belief, reality TV did not begin with Survivor. It began with The Real World; it just took a few years for the rest of America to catch on. If youve read Chuck Klostermans dissection of that show in Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, then I dont need to bother rehashing his arguments. If you havent, do it, because I dont feel like getting into it.

I could easily go into a long tirade about the evils of reality TV, but Im going to focus on Beauty and the Geek. The reason Im interested is, very simply, that its an interesting idea.

Anyone who goes through life relying on their looks tends to be a vapid pain in the ass, and the only people who should have groaned at that are the ones who Im targeting with that statement. Sadly I cant respect people who go through their life sitting on the computer playing World of Warcraft for hours on end either. (Honestly, what is the appeal? Someone tell me).

So you have eight geeks and eight beauties paired together to win money, and wackiness ensues. At the end of the show, both the geeks and the beauties sit in front of a camera and tell the world about how much theyve learned about people and how much more well-rounded they feel that they are now.

Very simply, its an illusion. Even reality TV isnt reality, and anyone with a brain understands that. The girls did not suddenly go back to their lives and start pursuing geeks, and the guys did not suddenly feel incredibly confident about talking to any girl that crossed their path.

People dont change their stripes that easily, but of course reality TV demands a happy ending because at some level the viewers connected with them. We are all suckers into an illusion which is extremely good at making us think that there is always a bright sunshiny rainbow at the end of a long struggle.

Like any other TV show, few people come away better off as a result of watching it. I personally have not seen any beautiful girls idly wandering up to a Trekkie-looking guy to talk about his thoughts on the postmodern significance of Star Trek.

In spite of our best efforts to change were all wired a certain way, particularly when it comes to love and attraction, which creates false hopes and expectations for the people who actually buy into all of this.

The regular readers of my column should know by now that I am a bit of a cynic. However my request is completely simple: Everyone grow up. Not every guy who sees you wants to jump your bones ladies; I dont care how hot you think you are. Guys, not every girl who sees you is completely repulsed, and not everything leads back to sex in male-female relationships.

Mahatma Gandhi once said that we must be the change that we wish to see in the world. So maybe Im practicing reverse psychology here.

Maybe by saying that nobody changes Im really trying to get you to think about what Ive said and prove me wrong. Im sort of sick of how afraid people are of each other. Its a stupid way to live life and it causes good people to miss out on great opportunities.

> Comments