I hate reality TV

I don't think I'm breaking new ground with this one, but it's something that has to be said.

For over a decade now, we have been inundated with so-called reality TV shows. In the beginning, it was fun. Cops started it all and continues today with new episodes of "real" people in "real" situations. Then there was The Real World which took "real" people and put them in contrived situations. Survivor took it one step further by taking "real" people and putting them in contrived situations with the possibility of winning lots of money. And that's when the walls came crashing down.

Look at the television spectrum today. Just off the top of my head: American Idol, Rock Star, America's Next Top Model, Project Runway, The Apprentice, So You Think You Can Dance, Last Comic Standing, The Ultimate Fighter, Hell's Kitchen...all of these are nothing more than talent competitions in different respective fields.

Then there's Beauty and the Geek, The Bachelor(ette), Fear Factor, Amish in the City, My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss, Road Rules, The Amazing Race, Big Brother, Unanimous, The Biggest Loser, Nanny 911, Trading Spouses, The Restaurant, Road Rules...the list goes on. All are (or were) considered some form of "reality" show and the only "real" thing about them is that they are "really" taking jobs away from actors.

Believe it or not, there are actors out in this great world who have studied (and continue to study) the art of acting. They desire little more than to inject themselves into a character and bring about all the finer points of humanity through their performance. These actors, many of them, spend a lot of money on training, headshots, and ramen noodles and endure loads of rejection just for one chance of making it big. And in today's "reality" fixated world, it's harder than ever.

The worst of these offenders would have to be the "Celebrity Reality" shows. These shows dig up has-been, pseudo-celebrities and drag out their near dead (and rightfully so) careers. Tucker Carlson can't dance, and neither can my dad, so why is it that of the two, Tucker Carlson has been in a televised dancing competition? If Christopher Knight was such a good actor, why don't they cast him in a role rather than exploit the fact that he was on a TV show nearly forty years ago? And why on earth does anyone want to follow the love life of Flavor Flav, whose star had faded long ago?

Reality TV has cheapened a once "fine art". Acting has become secondary to celebrity. Tertiary, perhaps, behind entertainment. As viewers, we seem to love it. But as an actor, I assure you, it's not good. You're being sold lard and told it's butter! Perhaps it's all a fad and will soon die out, but as an actor and a human being who only has so much time on this earth, I'm begging you to STOP with all the reality!

Wanna see some fresh faces? There is plenty of non-working talent in this business. Want to see a celebrity? Why not let them do what they're famous for! Turn on to some TV dramas and support what few sitcoms there are left. My God, there's over 200 channels and I'm not on one of them. Help a brother out!!

Celebrate

September 11th will never again be easy. Ever since the terror attacks and the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans in 2001, the day is always difficult.

Each year we do our best to honor, and justly so, our fallen comrades--our fellow Americans. Tributes at the World Trade Center site, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, PA memorialize the event at the start of the day, and for the rest of each September 11th since, we walk around like zombies.

Surely there is no appropriate greeting like "Happy Patriot Day" to bandy about. There are no cookouts or 9/11 parties that we could throw. No one feels much in the mood to celebrate...and really, can you blame them?

With only 5 years behind us, the pain is still strong...the memory still with us. As we look to the future--twenty, 50, 100 years from now, the pain may diminish (even if we promise never to forget), but the 11th of September will continue to occur each year, right between the 10th and the 12th. The pain will return.

Many have wondered how we will commemorate the occasion. Some would like a national holiday, complete with a day off from work or school. I would like to offer another solution: celebration. I'm not talking about balloons and champagne, but celebration of a different nature.

Think about it. One personal lesson that so many learned on that fateful day was how precious life is. Even today, when asked how life has changed, a common answer among Americans is "I value life more." So do it!

Make note of these small things. Celebrate that you can still wake up at 7am, buy a cup of coffee and a cream cheese muffin, hop on the bus, and go to work. You can still pick up your daily newspaper and read something that infuriates you--and you can actually disagree out loud! You can criticize your President, buy a pack of cigarettes, watch "reality" TV, and then go to bed after praying to whichever god you choose, or not pray at all!

The point is this: Life in America goes on! Five years ago, a group of men who hate America and wish to see Americans die, targeted our military (the Pentagon), our financial institutes (the World Trade Center), and our government (where exactly that fourth plane was headed is still unclear, but evidence suggests it was either The White House or The Capitol Building). They weren't just trying to destroy buildings and kill people. They were trying to plant terror in the hearts of every American. But we have overcome!

So celebrate your freedoms. Celebrate your rights and your privileges that come from living in one of the only nations on Earth that understands that freedom isn't granted by governments, but is taken by force by the thirsting soul of man. Celebrate the iron-clad will of the greatest society in the history of mankind.

Living your live without terror in your hearts is how you, the Average Joe and Jane, can fight this war. Freedom is your weapon. Fire at will!