From Keeping Up With The Kardashians, all the way back to MTV’s Real World and Jersey Shore, the world cannot seem to get enough of trashy, big mouthed celebrities, embarrassing themselves on national television. So is it really that big of a surprise that Donald Trump is now the leading Republican figure in this election? Now I’m not saying that the Republican Party should be the center of a new, juicy, guilty pleasure reality show, but I can’t be the only one wondering what really goes on behind the big, flashy rallies and spray tans. But what makes love these wacky people to the point that we can’t seem to break away from our screens? Well, according to Medical News Today, “Doctors say there is a link between the repeated use of an addictive substance and how the human brain experiences pleasure – its use has a nice reward, leading to further and more frequent use.” Does that mean that the more we engulf ourselves in something we love, the more addictive it becomes? Think about it. If you take a bite of a delicious chocolate cake, chances are you’re going to take another bite, then another, and another, and you might even go buy more; you just can’t help yourself. And maybe it’s because its not happening to us, but watching the drama of reality t.v. sure becomes a repetitive hobby.
So much like many addictions, our addiction to fast entertainment doesn’t come without its side effects. The growing popularity of Trump came mostly in the form of internet memes and mockery videos. The earliest forms of the Republican primaries were overshadowed by Donald, well, being Donald, rather than actually talking about serious policies. As a nation we didn’t seem to notice the legitimate growth in his following, as we were too busy laughing at his insolence, but somewhere along the line he seemed to have half the population convinced he actually had something meaningful to say. I guess you can say he’s the side effect, and he’s not the only one. The internet is infamous for making mediocre people popular. It’s as if we can’t help but shine a light on the most average of human beings. Or maybe we make fun of things to take away from how scary it all is. (aka: President Trump *shivers*) But truth be told, the biggest side effect of our mass media addictions is our numbness to issues that require our upmost attention. We loved making fun of Kim Kardashian for her 72 day marriage, but we never talked about how many men and women are in those kinds of relationships where they feel emotionally drained and trapped under the feeling of obligation. We drooled over pictures of hot guys at work, yet ignored the objectification of these individuals. We ignored societal morals in order to get a few likes and retweets, and isn’t that one of the major signs of addiction?
However, much like any addiction, our tolerance increases, and this is the perfect moment to let go. Or more like, become aware. This is a lot like when you find yourself binge watching The Office for the fifth time this summer and realize you probably should take a shower after three days. Eventually you have to come back to reality. And the reality is, we probably should be a little less obsessed with people we’ve never met. Or at least, we should realize what we’re doing when we’re doing it. So yeah, maybe we’ll never really stop gushing over crazy celebs, but we can’t get mad when someone calls us out on our bigotry. And hopefully we’ll be woke enough to actually listen. Yes, I just spent three paragraphs comparing a top presidential contender to the Kardashians, but let’s be real, I could’ve called him worse.
