One might ask what even is reality television and what does it consist of. Reality television is a genre of television programs in which real people are continuously filmed, and designed to be entertaining rather than informative. Most reality television shows just film the character(s) everyday life and what happens on a consistent basis. In the Black Mirror, the episode, "White Bear," is a reality television show that shows a woman being tortured mentally and physically because of a crime she committed. Reality television is most watched and popular because other people enjoy seeing public humiliation of others. The whole point of the episode "White Bear," is to create a reality for the woman so that other people want to watch the character suffer from whatever consequence that he or she gets in the show such as being brainwashed, having a constant reminder of the horrible crime she committed, being humiliated on national television, and being scared for her life every day. The audience takes pleasure in watching other's misfortune because it's not happening to them and makes it seem like what they go through isn't really all that bad compared to the character(s). In society today, reality television is becoming a significant part of television programming and people love to watch it any given time they want. There are more reality television shows to choose from to watch and  reality television has become really popular within the last year. Because of the dramatic increase in the views of Reality television the creators of this show thought it would be interesting to create a reality for the woman rather than her creating her own reality.

The episode "White Bear" in the show Black Mirror one can tell that human nature plays a role in reality television because humans seek the pleasure and attention fame and fortune brings but do not want to suffer while receiving the attention they desire.

In the article, "Public Humiliation in Reality TV" by Castillo, it stated some of the top reasons why reality TV is on the rise and is getting more popular on a daily basis. The audience feeds off of the agony of the participant whether it's amusing to them, gratifying, glad it's happening to others rather than themselves, or just feeling blessed that they have it better than someone else. It also sends a false hope of security to the viewers. The viewers think that there is a win-win situation and that you can have the fame and notoriety and still not suffer. This article can be related to the woman from the Black Mirror who committed a crime and is receiving her cruel punishment by being a part of a live reality TV show starring her. An example of how the audience feeds off the agony of the woman is that they get amused that she is clueless about what was going in. As she is running through the streets I noticed that all of the other people didn't speak to her or even talk to her. While she was figuring out what was going on, the audience had their phones to their faces recording her and even laughing at her. They were recording her because it was live and it made her feel even more lost, the point of that was to make her feel isolated so that she could freak out even more and lose her mind. The audience was laughing at her because they couldn't believe that it was her instead of them. They are amused at the fact that they aren't being humiliated in front of everyone but she is. These examples of how the audience was recording and laughing at her proves that the article was accurate. Humans get a kick out of watching people suffer because they are happy that it's not them. 

Based off the film, she was a "special case" and they were experimenting on her a new found punishment by brainwashing her just enough so that she can remember only what she did and nothing else. As she is so confused to what is happening to her little did she know that she was pretty much being used as a guinea pig for this new found punishment the people of society came up with. By watching the episode "White Bear" confirmed that humans continue to get more and more ruthless as time goes on and this was seen in the episode of the Black Mirror over and over again. Humans are selfish creatures, they only care about what benefits them and if it doesn't affect them it means almost nothing. The reason why they brainwashed her was because they wanted to see her suffer and they liked the fact that it brought them pleasure and entertainment. While she was going through this terrible time there were all smiles, laughs, and giggles from the audience indicating that they liked what was happening to her and glad it wasn't them.

Another article that supports the idea of why Americans like reality television is "Why America Loves Reality TV" by Steven Reiss and James Wiltz. In this article, it discusses several examples about what intrigues Americans to watch reality television. It explains how reality television disperses throughout American lives and how we get more of it through television, the web, magazines, and even live in person. Also in the article, there was a survey that took place on the viewing habits and desires to watch reality television. The results of the survey even surprised the experts, with two of the main results being so they can talk to their friends and co-workers about the show, and it made the viewers feel more intelligent than the participants in the reality show. Americans love reality television so much that they made a show that creates a woman's reality for her. Humans thirst for such a thing, to make a woman's life miserable just so that they can have entertainment. Reality television is like an addicting drug to American's, they can never have enough. 

The article continues to explain how viewers who like reality television think that the more attention the stars of the show get means they get a special status or feel more important than the other actors that are being ignored. The competitive nature of humans seems to be strong in those who watch reality television on a consistent basis. The viewers want to be the celebrities and the million dollar star on the new reality show and gain all the fame because they want to be a part of the thing that is receiving everyone's attention. The competitive nature in the viewers thirst for being the new thing, the reality star and get everything that comes with it. In connection to the Black Mirror, the viewers would like to be connected to the woman because she gets all the attention and want to be the star of their own reality show. In the Black Mirror the woman received attention by getting cameras in her face, people recording her, everyone knew her and was saying her name, and she was the main character in the reality television show. Even though she is going through a rough experience, people still want to be around her because of all the notoriety she constantly receives. 

In conclusion, the Black Mirror is showing us how society falls in love with the perks if being in a reality television show whether it's good or bad. The creators of the show Black Mirror manipulates the woman by creating her own reality because humans love to watch people suffer because it's not them. American's love reality television because they want to be around the thing that is receiving the attention because they crave it so much. Also the audience laughs and records the woman because they liked to see her in pain and they wanted to be a part of the "show" that was going on. Humans are beings that only care about themselves and what benefits them, but when it comes to getting consequences they are willing to take it at someone else's expense.  Because of the dramatic increase in the views of Reality television Americans seek the pleasure and attention it brings but doesn't want to suffer while receiving the attention they desire.

