Reality TV Is Fake: Top 5 Pop Culture Deceptions
We all remember the moment we had to grow up and face reality. Maybe it was when you found out about Santa or the Easter Bunny. Maybe when you learned that American Cheese isn’t legally cheese. Did you think they all really loved Flavor Flav? Here’s a list of the top five deceptions in pop culture:
Reality TV: This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but it’s fake. The Hills, Cash Cab, and Man vs. Wild have all famously fought scandals over staged scenes. But other sources in the industry have confessed to everything from inventing dialogue with unrelated audio bites to blatantly making things up.
Oprah’s “Free” Car Giveaway: Yes, Oprah did actually give away 276 cars to her audience in 2004. But each of those audience members had to pay up to $7,000 in taxes. If they didn’t want to keep it, they could sell the car to pay the taxes and keep the profit, or just forfeit the whole thing.
Milli Vanilli: This pop duo was the hottest new act of the late 80s and early 90s, until a malfunctioning tape deck exposed them lip synching at a concert. While lip synching is still a not-so-dirty secret in entertainment, it was eventually revealed that the two didn’t even sing on their albums and merely fronted for studio vocalists.
Games Shows: These actually got more honest in the last few decades because of a lesson learned in 1958, when a popular quiz show was revealed to be totally rigged. (Imagine learning that Jeopardy! is fake.) Ratings plummeted, the public was furious, and the government got involved, which is why even today you can be pretty sure that game show contestants are actually answering the questions themselves.
Jimmy McMillian: The rock star of the 2010 NY Gubernatorial election and next President of the United States, McMillian represents the Rent Is Too Damn High Party. He stands up for everyone who believes that the rent is too damn high, and promises to fight the rent being too damn high if elected. One problem: he hasn’t paid rent since the 80s. But as the man himself says, “It’s not about my rent. It’s not about me.”
