The youth culture has changed tremendously over recent years. Sexual behavior is quite apparent in all aspects of life. Teens and young adults are wearing more skimpy clothing, engaging in outlandish behavior, and often ignoring the consequences of their actions. This change in youth can be argued to be the product of several different things. However, with the connection MTV has with the young generation, a person would be short sighted to say MTV has not been a major, if a contributing cause of this cultural change.
The prevailing purpose of reality TV today, particularly on MTV is to revel in public displays of ignominy, where actualities are used precisely for their violations of generic norms. Ignominy entails public shame or humiliation, and through this applies to the subjects of these programs. Derek Kompare argues, “That this humiliation applies more directly to the genre and its viewers” (106). Kompare believes viewers perceive these generic violations as “you can’t do that on television” moments, which is what the producers and participants try to achieve (106). Participants on these shows are regularly shown in various states of discomfiture: exhausted, enraged, depressed, careless, undressed, asleep, inebriated, and sick. Indeed, MTV series, like The Real World and Jersey Shore are premised on directly placing their subjects in potentially humiliating or even physically dangerous situations. These moments are shown because watching disgraceful settings on television are what society now wants to see. For example the following video courtesy of MTV.com:
The normative range of television content has expanded in recent years, as long-standing broadcast taboos against coarse language, nudity, violence, and bodily functions have been eroded in the pursuit of young, affluent audiences (Kompare 107).
