Television

Reality TV has Ruined Other Genres

Television has been around for many, many years, almost to the point of where most people don't know how to live without it. Throughout its extensive history, television networks have developed so many different genres: drama, history, horror, comedy, etc. However, for the last, roughly, 15 years, a new kind of genre has taken over and become one of, if not the most, popular genres out right now - Reality Television. 

The first true reality TV show introduced was The Real World: New York on MTV. The show was about seven people who lived in the same apartment complex in New York, essentially a Reality TV version of Friends, and at the time, it was a complete success due to its originality and fresh take on TV. However, despite this being a start to a new generation of television shows, it will quickly become simultaneously loved and despised by the world. 

Although MTV was the original reality TV show channel, many others have followed suit with their own creations. American Idol, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Hell's Kitchen, Duck Dynasty: these are merely a few of the more modern reality TV programs that are available to the public right now, and each one of these programs has gained an enormous following, making them, as of 2017, tied for the second most popular genre on television (TV Genre Rating).

Despite their popularity, reality TV has also become extremely hated, mainly due to the claim that many have become washed out or that certain ones required no talent or skill to help make the show popular. According to Charles J. Orlando, "...some of TV was pretty intelligent—and if not smart, it was entertaining. M*A*S*H and Taxi answered the call for smart comedy... while the award-winning Hill Street Blues (with its long, connected episodic content and intertwined plot lines) changed TV writing forever (resulting in more award-winning shows: The Sopranos, LOST, and more). In "Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter ", author Stephen Johnson's theory is that popular culture – in particular television shows and video games – has grown more complex and demanding over time and is improving society within terms of intelligence and idea. But when he wrote it, he clearly didn't include the impact of Reality TV. Today, with entertainment's nudge/push/violent shove, we are sinking lower and lower into the abyss of mediocrity, scandal, and have quietly embraced a "fuck-the-next-guy" mentality. We watch others in Reality TV shows that are worse off than we are, and we instantly feel better... about ourselves. What parent hasn't been shocked at the "parenting" showcased on Toddlers & Tiaras (or it's mega-hit spin-off Here Comes Honey Boo Boo) and simultaneously feel bewildered (at the parenting), indignant (at the outrage of it being broadcast at all), and relieved (that OUR kids aren't "so screwed up", and that "we aren't parents like that!")."

Still, the results can't be denied. Reality TV is extremely popular. There is a strong probability that reality TV will remain in pop culture for quite some time. Since 1992, during the airing of the first episode of The Real World: New York, reality TV has, and will be, one of the highest grossing genres of Television.

Music

Eminem vs. MGK: Who Won the Feud? (Or did it even really start?)

Despite many believing it to be a "fake feud", the beef between the so-called "Rap God", Eminem and the titular Machine Gun Kelly, or Richard Colson Baker,  goes all the way back to 2012 when Baker released a controversial tweet regarding Eminem's daughter, Hailie, who was only 16 at the time.

Eminem, or Marshal Mathers III, called out MGK, fianlly, after six years of the two rappers throwing shade towards one another. After releasing his surprise album, Kamikaze, in 2018, Eminem specifically calls out MGK on the track "Not Alike".  Later that year, MGK retaliated by releasing his diss track, "Rap Devil", which is when the beef truly started to make its way to the hip-hop world. (Rap Devil Official Video)

A couple weeks later, Eminem appeared on a talk show with Sway Calloway. When asked about the feud and his reaction to seeing the tweet about his daughter, he responded with: "One day, you know, you go down a fucking wormhole on YouTube or whatever," he says. "I see 'Machine Gun Kelly Talks About Eminem's Daughter' or whatever. I’m like 'what the fuck?' I click on it…he starts doing a press run, basically, about Hailie. I’m like 'what the fuck? Yo, my man better chill." (Cosmopolitan Article)

A few days later, Eminem released a retaliation to "Rap Devil": "Killshot". The track was filled with an enormous amount of disses and was Eninem's attempt to finally win the rap war once and for all. Unfortunately, it only encouraged more controversy. Fans started doing research. Turns out that both rappers were both signed to Introscope, a record company, leading to many to believe that the whole rivalry was faked and they have simply been working the crowd to raise their own profits. Hell, MGK was seen at a Fall-Out Boy concert wearing a shirt with the "Killshot" logo printed on it. (Killshot Official Audio)

However, despite both rappers SEEMING to fight to the bitter end over a tweet, it has been proven that Eminem's latest album, Kamikaze, has sold over 430,000 copies compared to MGK's debut album, Lace Up, which only sold, roughly, 50,000 copies, and his total sales for his latest album, EP Binge, only sold 22,000 copies. Statistically speaking, Eminem has kept his title of the true Rap God.

But the final decision is entirely up to you. Is Eminem still the Rap God? Or has MGK come to take his title....and his girl?