Leonard PittsÆ argument that reality shows are mocking ôusö is largely an emotional argument based on the authorÆs value judgments and built on faulty logic. PittsÆ (2005) claim that the humor underlying reality shows ôàencourages us to ridicule the unschooled, the unsophisticated and the unfortunateö misses the point of all comedy (p. 2). His claim that the poor and unsophisticated are taken advantage of by producers of reality shows has no basis in fact, since its participants willing choose to engage in them. Further, PittsÆ (2005) claim that reality talk shows like Maury Povich, Jenny Jones, and others ôcoarsen our livesö is untrue, since others with issues covered on these shows may learn from them (p. 2). Therefore, far from reality showings lacking in value, reality shows are a form of harmless entertainment and laughter that can also be educational in many instances.
In Reality Shows Are Mocking Us, Leonard Pitts (2005) argues that The Real Beverly Hillbillies is a program that is ôàoffensive to poor people in the Southö and ômocks, caricatures, and marginalizesö this population (p. 1). Pitts (2005) contends that producers are not dealing with fictional characters but ôreal, live beingsö and offering them ôup for the rest of us to laugh atö (p. 1). We see PittsÆ lack of logic in these arguments. Comedy and humor, especially fish-out-of-water, have long relied on a target for ridicule or derision for laughs. It is the basis for humor. More importantly, these may be ôlive, real beingsö at who we are laughing, but these are also adults who have willfully chosen to not only participate in such programs but to subject themselves to being potential targets of humor for material reward. What is truly demeaning to the poor of the South is PittsÆ view that adults from the South are so nanve and uneducated that they are unaware of what participation in such shows i
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