Ronkonkoma

I think the most fascinating aspect of my experience in the 'world of reality' is that we are stepping into a normal American family's life and sculpting it to fit a 44 minute television show. On the one hand, the drama this family is going through is rich programming, but on the other, we are manipulating them to fit our perceived 'choice moments' for the episode. We are writing their reality. They are not actors, but we are truly creating characters.

Granted, they signed up for the ride, but I have no doubt they didn't have any concept how this was really going to go down. We are setting up camp in their home and making them do retakes of their life. We have clear goals as to what they have to accomplish in three weeks and need them to achieve their objectives. Otherwise, thanks to state of the art computer technology, we will morph a nine year old boy and a six year old girl into future gluttonous sloths.

Whether the family succeeds or fails is up to them. Our only responsibility is to produce an engaging hour of TV. As employees, we must remain detached and fulfill our assignment, but as human beings, we sympathize with these individuals and want to help them. I get to come back to Brooklyn in November with closure. This family will only begin coping with what's happened to them. And I'm not even talking about when their lives are put on display in January for the greater American cable audience to watch.