There I was in our dining hall after deciding not to pursue this issue, when I was incessantly aggravated by the conversation a table over: Joe Millionaire. Please understand that I do have some sympathy, for the premise truly is idiotic. You get to laugh at a mimbo named Joe Millionaire and his naive female gold-diggers every Monday night.

Picture this: a multitude of children all gathered around the clown relentlessly yelling, "Entertain us! Make us laugh! Make us happy!" Now put this in the context of the millions of viewers of Joe Millionaire and other reality television programs. Perhaps to some people today, reality television is more real than life itself. Is this so far from the truth?

The question I pose is this: Who is really having a good laugh here? Is it simply the viewers that get a good chuckle out of Joe and his pursuers? Or is it the network that knows that they can put trash television on the air and get millions of people to watch its absurdity? They may even promise that they will reveal the lucky (or unlucky) female companion, and then waste an hour of your life leaving you even less fulfilled than before. Maybe they already did that. Who knows what lurks in the future of such chaotic reality series: an institutionalized blind democratic marriage service?

So remember that while you may be laughing at the robust yet idiotic and fictitious Joe Millionaire, Fox, Joe Millionaire, the annoying butler and even Zora may be having a heartier laugh at your expense.

Andrew Litschi

freshman

Dillon Hall

Feb. 11

• A fictitious letter from the heavens to those left behind
  
• Call for respectful economics debate
  
• Serious claims of discrimination deserve review
  
• Joe Millionaire: Who's laughing?