I need this paper to be rephrased and need the work cited to be updated as of today. Also I will post one more file where i need that text to be connected to the paper which needs to be rephrased.

Many individuals go onto game shows believing they will come home a different person. However, these people think they will become wealthier and will have better lives as a result. Unfortunately for them, this case is very rare as many people often get scammed into coming onto a game show. There are those people who don’t find anything wrong with this, as it is his/her own decision to come onto the show. Although this is true, it is very difficult for low to middle income people to decline the opportunity to win thousands or even millions of dollars. Because the reward is so high, these people fail to look at the risks they will be taking in order to compete for this money. Many people see that they are coming on to a Q&A based reality show, and say to themselves, “Well this should be easy money!” A specific show where this often happens is “Nothing But The Truth, where people don’t think about how their lives could be impacted by playing in this high-risk game. Many people might argue that the contestants should probably read and go through all of the information before entering a show like this. If they are on a show such as this, they probably know about what kinds of things they will be risking. An example that we talked about in class was a woman who was asked a personal question regarding her husband and her ex-boyfriend. The lie detector determined that she would rather be with her ex-boyfriend rather than her husband, and she honestly answered to this question. As a result, she probably lost her husband. She was then asked if she was a good person, to which she replied, “yes”. However, the lie detector determined that she was NOT a good person, and because of this she lost the prize money, and in the process created major problems within her family. All she had to do was answer 21 questions correctly in order to receive a prize of $500,000. There are many other examples of reality TV where the contestants are asked to risk a lot in order to receive a relatively high reward. Shows like “Survivor” ask contestants to do crazy stunts and work with their competitors, which could be very difficult to do. The question that we should ask ourselves is, “Is it right or wrong to have reality shows such as these? And if so, should they be airing them to audiences all around the world? And also, are we to blame the producers for creating the shows or the contestants for agreeing to come onto the shows?” Along with these questions, we should also consider, “Once on the game show, is it ok to betray other in order to win the game?” These are questions with many different perspectives along with a numerous amount of answers.

The show talked about above had been airing in India as well. It was known as, “The Moment of Truth.” BBC’s Delnaaz Irani filed this report for “The World”. In this report, Rajish Camut, head of one of India’s television channels, says, “Indian society is becoming far more acceptable. Television as a medium was used as something to escape from the tragedies of real life. Today what happens is you don't mind seeing something that is real on television and accepting it. The Indian audiences are becoming far more tolerant and are open in terms of accepting the kind of content." This shows that the audience of India doesn’t mind watching shows such as these as they find it entertaining. Just like India, I am sure that many other countries, such as the U.S., also find shows like these entertaining as we are glued to our seats waiting for what will happen next. According to the Act-based Utilitarianism approach, they should continue to air shows such as these because it brings pleasure to a great amount of people by only directly affecting those who go onto these shows. However, according to Najma Heptulla, a prominent Member of Parliament, shows like these should not be aired in India or anywhere else. She says, “The questions started becoming very filthy kind of questions like whether he slept with a prostitute or he slept with a girl younger than his daughter. Did he cheat [on] his wife? All kinds of things." She has a great point, as this is not a good way to entertain the public. Asking questions like these must have a negative impact on children and also adults. After seeing someone win, they might begin to believe that money is more important than family. However, when people lose, they also get to see how the contestant loses everything. Heptulla went on to say, “If somebody wants to confess they should confess to the person or to a priest or to mullah or to a Hindu priest -- whatever religion they belong to. But why should I be forced to see it?" Heptulla is trying to ban this show from being aired, as she does not agree with it being shown on TV. This says that she is not in favor of the Act-based utilitarian approach because she does not want people to be entertained by watching harm being caused to others. From the producers perspective, I would have to agree with them airing, “The Moment of Truth.” I say this because they are succeeding as a company to make their TV show a big hit. They are providing entertainment to a great audience by causing potential harm to only a few individuals. The producers of the show definitely believe in the Act-based utilitarian approach, as they just want to maximize their profit by maximizing the entertainment they provide. If the contestants know what they are risking, there is no question that they should be allowed to go onto a show like this, as they are fully aware of the consequences.

Another show on Reality TV that brings a lot of entertainment to the public is, “Survivor.” In this show, you must learn how to survive in a tough environment with limited resources and a team that you cannot fully trust. The objective of the game is to win as many challenges as you can and try to be the last person standing at the end of the show. There were 4 contestants remaining in the 2007 season series, and two of them were Dreamz and Yau Man. According to a ProEthics article, “as the 2007 edition of "Survivor" got down to the final four competitors, there was a so-called "rewards challenge" for which the prize was a new truck.” Yau Man had won the challenge and the truck, but offered the truck to competitor Dreamz on one condition. The condition was that Dreamz would have to give Yau Man his immunity if he wins the next challenge. This means that Yau Man would be able to survive the next round as well. However, after Dreamz won the next contest, he went against his promise with Yau Man and gave himself the immunity instead of giving it to Yau Man. This caused Yau Man, “the good-guy contestant” to be voted off of the show. He betrayed his “friend”, but went on to win a substantial 3rd place cash prize. This goes against the Kantian Theory of; treating people the way you want to be treated in return. Unfortunately for Yau Man, he thought the Dreamz would behave in an ethical manner, by following the Virtue Moral Theory. He thought that Dreamz would be honest, trustworthy, generous and also friendly by helping him out. He believed that Dreamz would treat him the same way that he was treated. By this I mean, Dreamz would help Yau Man just as Yau Man had helped Dreamz by providing him with a nice truck. However, Dreamz goes against these theories and does not care about the negative publicity received as long as he receives his big bonus for “Survivor.” In this situation, I don’t think the producers are wrong for airing a show like this as it is only for those individuals who have enough skill to make it through these horrific circumstances. In the 2007 season series, I believe it was Yau Man’s fault for trusting Dreamz. This is because there is way too much money on the line to be risking getting kicked off of the show. Since Yau Man was one of the strongest competitors, Dreamz felt like he should maximize his profit and kick Yau Man off of the show, and also keep the truck. He overlooks the ethical standpoint, and jumps straight to the economical benefit. On MSNBC’s “Today Television”, host and producer Jeff Probst said, “The ethical line on ‘Survivor’ is a continuum. Moral is at one end, immoral at the other. Each person decides at any given moment where they are willing to place themselves — how far down that continuum will you drift for a million dollars?” He goes on to say, “One of the most fascinating aspects of Survivor is watching people justify their ethics. Nothing is off-limits when it comes to crossing an ethical line. It comes down to your own personal ethics and how far you can stretch that line in your own self.” As shown in the case above, Dreamz was willing to really stretch that line and as a received a nice 3rd place prize. “Survivor” is a show that should be carefully played by its contestants because there is very little ethics involved, as everyone is simply aiming for that grand prize.

MSNBC’s “Today Television”, goes on to talk about a book by Bernard Gert. The book is called, “Common Morality” and states the 10 rules of moral behavior. Gert says the first 5 rules include, “don't kill, don't cause pain, don't disable, don't cause loss of freedom, and don’t deprive of pleasure.” The second 5 rules apply more to reality TV shows as they are stated as, “don't deceive, keep your promises, don't cheat, obey the law, and do your duty.” We saw these 5 rules apply to the people in “Survivor” as well as “The Moment of Truth”. Other shows that these rules apply to include, “Big Brother”, “Hells Kitchen”, “The Biggest Loser”, etc. These rules, as stated by Bernard Gert, are very similar to the Virtue Moral Theories. For example, the virtues include: being honest, responsible, trustworthy, patient, tolerant, generous, compassionate, friendly, and many others. However, many contestants often go against these virtues because they start to care very little about their competitors and care more about the prize. By doing this, they are also going against the Kantian Theory, which asks people to treat other people the way they want to be treated in return. An example of a reality show that raises a lot of eyebrows is known as “Kid Nation”. The reality TV show is based on 8-15 year old children who are asked to create their own world without any adults. Many people think that this age group is too young to be on reality TV. These kids are required to follow the Virtue Moral Theories, as they have to work together in order to complete the task. However, their ultimate goal is to win as many gold stars as possible. This makes them want to stand out so that they are the ones winning the gold star. But in order to do this, they must work together and be honest, responsible, patient and friendly towards each other. They must also follow the Kantian Theory by treating each other the way they want to be treated in return. A show in which these theories are not followed is called, “$25 Million Hoax”. According to ABC news, a woman is asked to torture her family by telling them that she won the lottery, when in reality she did not. This goes against the Virtue Moral Theories because she is not being honest with her family. Along with this, she goes against the Care-based Feminist Writings, which require one to be loving and caring. By pretending to win the lottery, she is torturing her family members, which is very mean and uncaring. As a result of doing all of this, she will not have earned a lottery; instead she will earn a little paycheck. Although some may say it is the producer’s fault for airing this type of show, I believe that it is the contestant’s fault for going onto a show such as this.

For the majority of reality shows, from the producer’s standpoint, they should continue to air these types of shows because many people at home enjoy it. This shows that they are following the Utilitarian Approach by bringing the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number. The same goes for the producer’s of “Survivor”, as they are bringing the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number of people by airing this reality TV show. According to ABC news, Survivor is the top rated reality TV show of the decade. That shows a lot about the success of this show, which is why producers and contestants keep coming back each season to start over again. The majority of reality TV shows should continue to be aired because they are bringing a great amount of entertainment to the public. Most contestants have an option to go onto these shows, as they are not forced. Although there are many ethical behaviors that contestants should refrain from doing, all of it is a part of the show.

Work Cited