Reality TV (1)

Reality TV 
Are reality TV programs good entertainment?
電視實境節目值得看嗎？ 電視實境節目算是好的消遣娛樂嗎？

(Kim and Ava meet for coffee.)

Hi, Ava!
Did you watch The Wendall Family last night?
They're really in the midst of a crisis!

Isn't that a new reality TV show, Kim?
Why are you wasting time watching stuff like that?

I'm not wasting time.
I'm amusing myself!
It's fun to watch real people in real situations and think about what I would do.

I don't need to wonder what I'd do.
I'd never get myself into half of those situations!
Sure there's tension and drama, but how is it entertaining to watch people behaving badly?

Not everyone behaves badly.
Some of the stories are very touching.
And I like to root for the show's underdog.

True.
Everyone likes a good story, but people on those shows can be really mean to each other.
It's humiliating.

Maybe, but the ones who are humiliated usually deserve it!
They choose to be on the shows.
And I love how ordinary people can become famous.
Millions watch them and talk about them to their friends and coworkers.

Popularity shouldn't be the only reason to put something on TV.
Would you want to become famous by doing bad or stupid things?


Info Cloud
Teaching Topic: Binge Watching 狂看
binge n. /ˈbɪnʤ/狂熱
a short period of time when you do too much of something
binge watching 連續觀看多集電視影集


Grammar Gym
I'd never get myself into half of those situations!
to get oneself into = to allow oneself to be in a situation
- I can't believe you have all these problems. How did you get yourself into this mess?
- Walter wasn't careful with his money, and that's how he got himself into debt.


Language Lab
midst n.
in the midst of something
a) if you are in the midst of an event or situation, it is happening around you:
b) in the middle of a place or a group of things or people:
- Joy was in the midst of her marriage crisis when she got transferred.
- Oliver arrived home in the midst of a serious snow storm.

amuse n.
to make someone laugh or smile:
- Daddy used to tell us funny jokes to amuse us.
- William often plays with his dog to amuse himself.
amusement n.
the feeling you have when you think something is funny
- He stopped to watch the street performers in amusement.

humiliate v.
to make someone feel ashamed or stupid, especially when other people are present [= embarrass]
- The boy was beaten and humiliated by those bullies at school.
humiliating adj.
making you feel ashamed, embarrassed, and angry because you have been made to look weak or stupid [= embarrassing]
- The humiliating defeat badly hurt the morale of the team.

deserve v.
to have earned something by good or bad actions or behavior:
deserve a rest/break/holiday etc
- You should take a vacation after all the hard work you've done lately. You deserve it!
deserve all/everything you get (=deserve any bad things that happen to you)
- These robbers got what they deserved. They were put in jail.


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