I am so unbelievably, thoroughly, over new "reality" shows. Have we as a species declined so that only ritual humiliation captures our attention? The ultimate celebrity culture is one in which everyone in the universe can be a "celebrity" -- vacuous, unpleasant, insipid, useless and money-grubbing. Welcome to America y'all.

I am a reluctant fan of some entries in the genre, but women acting like idiots for idiotic reasons seems to be a special sub-niche for prime time. Women fighting over men (the Bachelor), women fighting for weddings, women having their looks improved, women fighting over money and now, since there's women making foolish over themselves for a title that sounds like it comes directly from one of the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books. I've had it with the soft misogyny of spectator "reality." Welcome to the other side of America. Turn off the TV and go back to your computers. Maybe you'll learn something.

Ya, its galling to see all these women so keen on humilating themselves! These reality shows really are forums for exhibitionists. And so long as there's voyeurs...

I think the author was also pointing out the irony of so-called 'average' people in democratic societies veying to be special, to stand out in the crowd, by way of these endless competitions. Instead of being born into an elite social milieu, average people compete amongst themselves to gain entrance to elite positions, or at least the semblance of an elite position, and this is somehow considered more democratic. Like the author so cynically put it: "They're all born performers, and they've been born into an age when they no longer need an art."

I never thought I'd turn into preachy anti-television jerk, but c'mon! This is how we encourage people? We show them that a minute and a half of fame is worth looking like an idiot? Ack. I saw some stat recently about the ridiculous number of children who have as a "career choice" -- celebrity. Paris Hilton has so many sins to answer for.