Reality television is out of touch

Brawnie, a proud Hollywood impersonator, twirls her bleached hair under her red, fang-like nails as she attempts to woo the tan, ripped eliminator on last night's rerun of "Elimidate." \nAbout five terrible impersonations later, she is the first one kicked out of the group date as the final three grope and struggle to win a guy they don't even know. \nFollowing a string of shows that often come on after Leno, FOX's "Elimidate" and MTV's "Dismissed" are the latest and perhaps greatest spinoffs of reality television. Females and males compromise self-esteem and respect to win over someone they probably wouldn't even like if they met under normal circumstances.\nThis wave of "reality" dating is hardly real. \nIf only I could go to some trendy Vegas club with two fine guys, only to kick one of them out around 1 a.m. after I have already sucked face with both of them. This dating life would be the best of both worlds.\nWhile some of you may have the beauty or the balls to string along many dates, only to eliminate none of them and keep them all dangling in the end, for the vast majority of us the concept behind shows like "Dismissed" isn't realistic at all.\nMore often then not, shows like "Dismissed" continue to perpetuate the image that girls and guys should compete for the opposite sex with no regard for self-respect. \nAll bets are off, and the best man doesn't always win. Instead all the women end up looking desperate and trampy, and the men just look stupid as they verbally assault their competitors with ridiculous trash talk.\nThe problem with shows like this isn't in the competitiveness of it. In reality, there is competition for dates and for winning the affection of any heart; this is natural.\nBut when a girl, like Brawnie on "Elimidate", deems herself more worthy than Jennifer, a competitor, because her "boobs are bigger," something is wrong.\nShows like this follow specials about Britney Spears on MTV. My preteen sister was glued to a special about Britney and happened to flip to two girls battling it out in a bar for a guy by stripping and talking about kinky sexual scenarios.\nI don't want my sister to think this is the way dating works. \nWhile shows like "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Melrose Place" have characters who have all been intimately involved; they don't claim to be part of the reality television wave. They involve actors playing roles rather than average twentysomethings supposedly being real, baring names of their own and a one-time gig.\n The danger in shows like this is that they are all superficial. Nine times out of 10 on "Elimidate," the most beautiful woman wins. This is not what dating is all about.\n While it is realistic for people to go on a date based purely on physical attraction, this trend of shows that don't allow the contestants to know anything internal about a person send the wrong message about dating and self-respect.\n While following a couple in love on their daily routine would be even more boring, the reason why actors exist is to separate television from reality. \nAs this line continues to blur and middle schoolers like my sister continue to view shows where real people take the leading roles, I am worried immoral messages, combined with a false sense of reality, will skew perceptions of what interaction with people of the opposite sex should really be all about.