Moral Perversion in TV Today -- The Omarosa Example

I came across half a thought today that disturbed me. I did not feel like being disturbed, so I ignored it. But it was persistent. I kept getting this image of Amarosa, the woman who has become the "villain" of reality TV by acting like a total and complete bitch. She first gained notoriety by acting unscrupulously towards her teammates in Donald Trump's The Apprentice . She lied, refused to participate in the team's efforts, and behaved overall appalingly. After she was kicked out, she appeared on a series of TV shows alongside movie stars and celebrities. Then, she participated in the Celeb Reality Show, which concluded a few night ago. Again, she was rude, mean, and an overall bitch. After calling one of her housemates a crackwhore and a bad mother, she gloated that she had forced her nemesis out of the house. Then she left the show, smiling, saying that she regretted nothing and said that a whole new category of actors had been created because of her -- the reality villain. This idea -- and the fact that she was absolutely right - disturbed me immensly. She winked at the end, as if to plant a seed of doubt in our mind - that maybe she was just acting like a bitch the whole time and wasn't one in real life.
Of course reality shows are anything but real. Of course producers like having a shock factor in their shows. Of course we like to sit in our comfortable chairs and get the feeling that we are at least better than one person in this world. But that she is actively sanctioned and her actions condoned by not getting booed off stage when she comes on the show to talk about her life -- that bothers me. It bothers me that she should have left the Trump show with her tail between her legs and never gotten a real job after that and instead she became rich and famous. It bothers me because it sends the wrong message. It sends the message that immoral people-- people for whom the ends justify the means-- when put in the right setting, get to be someone in this world. She lied, she cheated, she broke all rules of common courtesy and respect. How does she get invited to gala dinners and red carpet events? How does she dare to stand next to people of talent, honor and integrity? She lives as a parasite, feeding off of our culture's desire for scandal and moral degradation.