Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

Viewpoints Reality TV...why? To quote Jer ry Seinfeld, "What is the deal with re ality television? I mean, what is the deal?" It all started with MTV, just like them to start a trend, and “The Real World” where a bunch of twenty-some things were picked to live a house and have their lives taned. Ann wane rvuaru is a journalism junior and managing edi tor. She can be reached, at gamecock viewpoints Shomail.com MTV's intent was, well I have no idea what their intent was, but it caught on, and they are now in the ninth season of the series. The cast members have endured break-ups, make ups, sex and all sorts of other problems during the six months they live in this house. Each season gets more and more ridiculous and more and more unreal. I mean, think about this: how real is it to live in a huge house for free with a pool, hot tub, pool table and all the oth er perks these people get. “The Real World,” more like the Unreal World. Then there was the spin-off, “Road Rules.” This is where a group of twen ty-somethings travel cross country in a Winnebago and do these tasks to collect money. Putting seven people in a vehi cle about the size of a dorm room and ex pecting them to act all lovey dovey. OK, so MTV started this reality TV trend. Who ever would have thought that the big networks would get involved? Well they have, and CBS is at the head with two reality shows. “Survivor” and “Big Brother”. Now, I will admit that I have never seen either of these shows, because, quite frankly, I have better things to do on a Wednesday night than sit around and .watch people lust after each other on a deserted island. I honestly think I would rather gouge out my eyes with hot pok ers than watch that show. Since 1 have never seen this show, I looked on the Web site, and this is what it said for tonight’s episode: "How will Gretchen's ouster impact the tribe? Who will Greg make a play for? A challenge brings happiness and tears. Who will smile, and who will cry?" bounds more lute a promo tor Days of Our Lives” than for a show where peo ple are supposed to be fighting for their lives. I mean, who cares about who Greg will make a play for? I thought these peo ple were supposed to be fighting to sur vive. The last time I checked, sex was not an essential element needed to five - a luxury, maybe, but not a necessity. Oh, I know people who don’t have real lives and have to watch other peo ple. I thought those people were called stalkers; guess I was wrong. I don’t even want to comment on “Big Broth er.” You know some things just speak for themselves, and I think that is one of them. Well, if you love these ... uh ... re ality shows, there will be a whole slew of them come the fall seasoa “The Mole,” where a group of people try to compete a series of tasks and one of them is trying to debauch the task. “Master Game,” where the contestants study for series of tests over several days. OK, who the hell would want to watch a show about studying? Then there is “The Runner” and “Wanted.” “The Runner” is where a person is let loose somewhere in the coun try and the viewers have to find him. “Whnted” is where former bounty hunters are set after a series of contestants. And those are just on FOX and CBS. NBC has the most ridiculous of them all: “Chains of Love.” It’s where a girl has four guys chained to her and has to let go of a guy a day until she is left with her dream man. I think with all this reality program ming I will just sell my TV and go get some biographies. Those real-life tales will be interesting and at least based on the truth. Alcohol proves that the white man can't dance Last Friday ] night, I par- j ticipated in j my usual activities, s Primarily, that in- j volves parties and j a trip to Five | Points. A fellow j student media friend, Jon, was having some peeps over to celebrate being young and reckless. Being his guest, I felt oblig ed to bring a gift. I Sean Rayford is a media arts senior. He can be reached at gamecock viewpointsSh canail.com maae my uura mp ever to Greene’s to pick up some al cohol and realized that I didn’t want to spend much dough. However, I want ed to impress everybody at the same time. l was browsing tne cooler section and something special caught my eye. The TIGER. I am not talking about the redneck school in the Western por tion of the state, but instead a certain malt liquor known as Old English 800. Now that I think about it, Clemson is a lot like this tiger. Little respect is of fered to either. The primary drink of the evening was Barton’s vodka and cranberry juice. You know that $10.99 a liter has gotta spell trouble. Fast forward one hour, the wanker music is pumping strong and everyone has awesome Jiquor breath. Our host, Jon, likes wanker music a lot, which is pretty cool. 1 he wanker music and Barton s sent his chemicals into a frenzied state. He proceeded to dance emphatically, and it was undeniably funny. It was a sight that has been witnessed by many before - a white man dancing. He maneuvered and gyrated in random directions, provoking the crowd of on lookers to wail and cheer. Like I said, it was funny. me to the Flip Side (the upstairs dance floor of The Knock Knock Club) in Five Points. There was no wanker music there. “The Thong Song” might have been playing or possibly the late Big Pun. I don’t exactly recall. Then, once again, I was reminded of something very important. White men cannot dance. I am not sure why God decided to leave out the rhythm gene in white males. Maybe he could foresee the 400 years that the Anglo Saxon man would oppress his African counterparts. To make up for these 400 years, God pointed his finger, and a lightning bolt shot out, destroying an essential parly gene. As a result, brothers across the world can enjoy any night out, laughing at the white boys in the club. One fine day this summer I was channel surfing on my overpriced Time Warner Cable system. I came across BET and couldn’t refrain from laugh ing at what I saw. The BET VJ was at a reggae concert and spotted several drunk white boys attempting to get their groove on. He asked it they could dance tor the camera. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t do what he asked. There was asbolutely no dancing going on here. The guys’ dates were embarrassed and attempted to stop their foolish be havior. The VJ turned to the camera and pointed out that white boys can’t dance. He was right. The funny thing is that most white girls still appear to have this special gene. Maybe it’s because man once oppressed this group, also. Whatever the reason, the bottom line is that white men cannot dance. That’s why the white boy fraternities don’t have step shows. Still Available: • 2 and 3 bedroom apartments for fall semester • Summer leases • Fully furnished apartments Would Ybu Accept $20 to Save Kids'Lives? Sick children all over the world hope you will. Your plasma contains vital substances needed to make medicines that save kids’ lives. Donating plasma is safe, easy, and a good way to earn extra cash. You’ll make about $20 per visit, and you can donate twice a week So start donating today. Kids’ lives depend on it. Plasma Saves. Plasma Pays. I Donate Today. 215 Assembly Street Columbia, SC 29201 803-254-2280