A New Yorker article about Miuccia Prada has really got me steamed. It wasn’t the article itself, but one anecdote about a reality TV show taping Prada attended. Unbenownst to all of the “average Joe” participants in the reality show, there was no show at all… it was actually “art”. Of course, Prada and all of the celebrity guests were in on the joke, but the joke was on ordinary folks.
It puts me in mind of “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance,” a reality show that aired on Fox this past season that featured deception upon deception.
Since when has deception become funny? Call me unsophisticated, but I think lying is degrading and damaging, doing harm to every relationship it touches. Why have we, as a society, turned lying into a game, where it’s practiced for the amusement of every voyeur? It’s just sickening.
I read a book about lying back in college by Sissela Bok, and it really touched me — and obviously stuck with me. Her basic point is that even so-called “little white lies” can be damaging.