Really? Brandy’s little brother. He maybe had one popular song and made a sex tape. It is amazing the lengths people will go through to stay famous. Reality TV has definitely given F- list celebrities—if you can call them celebrities—another shot at fame. What is more disturbing is that the global entertainment industry at large has embraced it. Then again…many of us ‘real’ people have as well.

When MTV first introduced The Real World (which is on its 800^th or so season) Reality TV became a part of our television lexicon. This surge in turning on the television to watch real people in their daily lives is no longer a fad; it is now a large part of our culture. Not just in the U.S. but around the world.

I’m going to be honest here; I love television and I am a Reality TV junky. But I must throw in a caveat: I don’t watch just anything. It depends on the network, the show, and who’s on it this season.

Take Bravo TV for example, I will watch anything that Bravo airs. Yes, even The Real Housewives of Atlanta. When Project Runway switched to the Lifetime Network I was devastated, mostly because that meant I would have to watch Lifetime.  Flipping Out, love it, Jeff Lewis is a nut job and I’m o.k. with that. One day I was cleaning my room and I turned on the TV; the Rachel Zoe Project was on. Now please don’t judge, I made the mistake of sitting down…I watched three hours of the marathon ( I am ashamed and embarrassed to admit that). Kathy Griffin’s Emmy Award winning show, My Life on the D-List, is one of the best creations known to man. I can’t help it I am a sucker for her outrageous antics. Lastly, the reruns of America’s Next Top Model, I give anyone full license to judge me on this one. And if anyone has figured out how to “smile with your eyes” let me know.

I watch a lot of crazy mind numbing television, but I do have my boundaries. Boundary #1: Children. If a show involves the taping of children, chances are I will not watch it. If you have been watching or reading any entertainment news  lately, you have heard about Jon and Kate Gosslen’s  latest battle. They are still trying to hold on to their fame. I find shows like Toddlers and Tiaras to be an odd thing to want to document on television.

Hopefully, no one is foolish enough to think that all Reality TV is real.  MTV‘s The Hills took the veil off of that notion years ago. We watch television, we go to movies, and we go to theatre productions to see extraordinary things happen to “ordinary people”. Reality TV is no different. There is nothing interesting about the everyday life of the average person. I don’t want to watch a show documenting my mom’s daily life, but watching Tyra Banks yell at models  for not being Tyra Banks or listening to Tim Gunn say “Make it work” for the millionth time offers some unexplainable  satisfaction.

For me, there is some intrigue because these “real people” become characters after a while. Many of them make me feel better about the choices that I have made in my life. It is an alternative to real life that we buy into. We have embraced Reality TV as part of our culture because it is not a realistic reflection of our culture. We know that and we like that fact. If the day ever came that reality and Reality TV begin to reflect upon one another…we are in trouble.

-Peace-

My name is Daniel. I am a 22 year-old college graduate.  Although  I was born in Chicago,  I have lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for most of my life. I am taking a year off as I work, plan, and apply for graduate school. By fall of next year, I will be pursuing my MFA in Acting (applications are in the works, auditions in February). Currently, I am working three jobs: ISS teacher at Axtell Park Middle School (full-time), Assistant Oral Interp Coach at Lincoln High School and as a Box Office Representative and Community Learning Center Instructor at the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science ( I try to keep busy).

In college, I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English (literature emphasis) and in Communication Studies & Theatre (that is one major). While I do many things and I have many interests, I am an actor. My career goals lead me toward a life as a professional actor (yeah, I know what some people are thinking…but only time will tell). My preferred acting venue is in Musical Theatre. I have been fortunate and lucky with my college acting career, but I am looking to carrying that over into the “real world.” My ambitions, goals, and self-standards are high. Those who know me expect nothing less.

At any rate, on to the blog…..

My passion for the arts and for culture is what drives me to write this blog. Literature, music, visual art, performance, academics, diversity, community, and life style are some of the subjects I plan to explore in my blog. These are subjects that we should seek to incorporate in our lives because they enrich us as people. In my life experience and in my observation of  society (in a very general sense of the word) when times get tough, the pocket book gets tight and life challenges us in a way we have never experienced the Arts is the first thing to fall to the waist side – out of our frame of mind. In communities, in schools, and at home the Arts have become optional and expendable in tough times. I contend that when life throws challenges our way that is the point where the Arts must be at the forefront of our lives. Throughout the days, weeks and months to come, I hope to really explore what that means and that my blog can begin to challenge more people view life in this way.

This is my reflection on everything Arts & Culture related from the community of Sioux Falls, the state of South Dakota, and the United States.

Also, thank you to The Post (South Dakota’s Independent Online Newspaper) for including my blog as part of their reader’s online experience. Check it out at www.thepostsd.com.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit”
— Aristotle

Humbly,

Daniel Deshon Hodges