I may watch it, Fox, but I tell you, I won't like it

BY RAINA LIPSITZ

In their latest effort to stretch the limits, Fox Network officials have come up with a new mini-series, Temptation Island, airing on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. The premise of this show rivals even last year's Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? in terms of sleaze. Its premiere drew 16 million viewers, of which a disproportionate number belong to the coveted demographic of 18-25 year-old males. The show is being advertised with young adults in mind.

COURTESY FOX.COM "We swear, it's not about sex. Just tits and ass."

Temptation Island is a short-order, unscripted series in which four unmarried (but presumably monogamous) couples are whisked away to an island off of Belize "to test the strength of their relationships." Once in paradise, they separate from their partners and are introduced to eligible singles. Over this period, claims Fox's website, "each couple will get the opportunity to answer questions about themselves and one another, and find out if what they think they want is actually what they do want."

Fox frames the show as if it were providing a valuable service to these couples. Lest you get the wrong impression from their ads, the network's president is quick to assure viewers that the show is "not about sex." It's a test of love, faith, and trust, and a useful tool with which these people can assess the strength and longevity of their relationships. No one at Fox would ever want to exploit another human being's emotional trauma or sexual escapades for entertainment value and financial gain. In fact, they are struck with righteous indignation at the mere suggestion. Their motives are clearly beyond question.

COURTESY FOX.COM

But I'll leave that judgment up to the viewer. As a member of the TV-watching public, and of the age bracket Fox so ardently woos, I find the premise of its latest show grotesque. Still, even having survived the summer untainted by Survivor, I wonder if I will be able to resist Temptation Island. Admittedly, I did subject myself to the worst of all: Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? Never have I needed a shower as badly as I did after watching that show (and that's including the Miss Universe pageant). Why did I watch? I suppose it's like motorists who gape at highway pile-ups: morbid curiosity.

As many parental diatribes as are waged against these shows, they are still doing phenomenally well. I've certainly watched my share. Fox wouldn't keep making them if we weren't watching. And the network will only go as low as we will. So the question is, what are we doing? Is it okay to watch these shows? And if we do, can we still respect ourselves the next morning?

An avid Ricki Lake-watcher, I always drew the line at the likes of Jerry Springer and Temptation Island. My father disputes the placement of this line; for him, Ricki Lake falls far beneath it. He's probably right. I am probably not entitled to take the moral high ground. Does that mean I should change the channel when Ricki comes on? Does it mean I should tell people not to tune into Temptation Island? Does it really matter what we watch on TV?

On the one hand, no, of course it doesn't matter what we watch on TV, as long as we are responsible, educated, and socially aware adults in our daily lives. Many times I've said to my father, "Dad, it's just a show. It doesn't influence what I think or how I live my life." And there is some truth to this claim. I don't buy the argument that holds video-game manufacturers responsible for Columbine, and I don't think that my watching Ricki Lake makes the world any worse a place.

Yet it doesn't not matter what we watch on TV, either. Because to some extent, we are what we watch. The more inured we become to shameless, exploitative, pandering network tactics, the more tolerable they seem. The more we watch Fox's fare, the less we think about how it's being produced and who gets hurt in its making. There may not have been any animals harmed during the making of shows like Temptation Island, but human psyches are becoming alarmingly dispensable.

Sure, people choose to be on these shows. And some of the participants are just as shameless and cheap as their "exploiters." As far as I'm concerned, Darva Conger and Rick Rockwell (the infamous couple of ...Marry a Multi-Millionaire? fame) were a match made in heaven. Jerry Springer would be hard-pressed to find a more pathetic pair. But just because some of the people on these shows are wretched and morally bankrupt, does that excuse us for delighting in their debasement? Is it really justifiable to watch this parade of midget strippers and incestuous sisters just because, for their own twisted reasons, they've decided to strut their stuff on the air? The spectacle seems more sorry than scintillating.

In the end, it's up to the individual viewer how low he or she wants to go. As for me, I doubt I'll have too much trouble resisting the network's latest "temptation."

Raina Lipsitz is a freshman in Trumbull.

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