Very, very little about “reality
TV” is real.
Put a little lipstick on a pit
bull and you’ll have something a lot more “real” and a good deal nicer than,
for example, supposedly “real housewives” who are mostly collagen, silicone,
high maintenance attitude, and genuinely devoid of anything genuine. But such
mind-numbing voyeuristic freak show TV replicates itself at an astounding rate.
“Real Housewives of Paducah”?
I suppose the “Shark Tank” series
on ABC is a kind of reality TV, so I feel a little embarrassed when I’m
swimming by flipping channels and that show occasionally snags me. I’ve gotten
hooked a few times.
On “Shark Tank” a panel of
“sharks,” successful (whatever that is) business folks who have achieved the
kind of amazing success (whatever that is) that we all are supposed to desire,
listen to pitches by fledgling entrepreneurs hoping to enlist some serious
denarii to take their businesses or business ideas onward and upward to serious
success (whatever that is).
The “sharks” are brutal in their
examination of the entrepreneurs and their products/ideas. But if the sharks
are convinced that the pitch has merit, they’ll offer bunches of money to the
entrepreneurs (and often compete or join with each other in doing so) to get
the business funded or seriously expand it. In return, they get an agreed upon
share in the company and a percentage of its income.
I’ll admit, it’s interesting to
watch. The business ideas are interesting, as are the entrepreneurs themselves
and the evaluation of the “sharks.” If I were starting a business, I hope I’d
be open to frank counsel from someone who has successfully done so.
But swimming with sharks has some
inherent dangers, and it brings up some questions.
I know our society always equates
success with an impressive spreadsheet and “bigger and more.” Is that all it
takes to be a “success”? Is there ever a time to wisely say, “Enough”?
If you’ve got a really great idea
and your product is already selling pretty well, do you really want to get in
bed with a shark? (Mixed metaphor, I know.) Can you ever really trust a shark?
Is working with one much fun even if it produces more dollars? How much is
happiness worth to you? Even if the shark is pretty honest, have you ever known
a big personality/big money shark who didn’t always honestly think that any
success in a joint venture was because of him and any setbacks because of his
much less savvy partner(s)? Have you ever met a shark who wasn’t at least a
little, and probably a lot, dangerous?
I wonder how many of these sharks
bought their “success” with a long line of wrecked relationships and broken
families? Is that a price you’d be willing to pay? Who and what are you willing
to sacrifice on the altar of your “success”?
Our society’s definition of
success is one thing; we do well to think long and hard about God’s definition.
That’s a reality check you won’t find on “reality” TV.
Copyright 2012 by Curtis K. Shelburne.
Permission to copy without altering text or for monetary gain is hereby granted
subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.
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