How TV Shows are getting real

Oh the wonderful world of TV. Since the early 1930s the television set graced households, and by the late 1990s 98 percent of households owned a TV set, according to NYU.com.

Witty family shows about the Cleavers, a little boy and his best friend Lassie, and late-night sitcoms all became fan favorites.

Throughout the generations television evolved, and today the shift in storylines is clear. We are seeing less of the happy family sitting down to dinner each night, and more of the struggle of what it’s like to not have a home to go to.

The TV shows have become real.

They are emulating today’s culture, climate, and socioeconomic status of today’s generations. They are hitting on tough topics like bullying, mental health, assault, and even death.

They are inclined to show what it’s like to get fired from your first real job out of college, not have enough money to pay rent, and getting evicted from your apartment.

There has become less of the care-free running around the Upper East Side in Manolo Blahnik’s, and more running around Brooklyn with no shoes while trying to get home.

For some, shifting away from the happy-go-lucky world of TV and realizing shows are now willing to get raw and dirty may be a difficult change of pace.

But for others, having writers willing to confront hard topics is the little piece they need to remember they are not alone in this thing called life.

Shows like 13 Reasons Why, and the recently concluded HBO series Girls, have been daring and willing to discuss and show topics that are painful, difficult, and real.

But more importantly they continue forcing people to have conversations about the topics that are depicted.

The hit HBO series Game of Thrones decided to show a leading lady, Sansa Stark, get raped by her new husband, Ramsey Bolton.

The day after the episode aired people were infuriated that the show was willing to cover such a horrible event. But the show’s frontrunners and actors in the scene insisted it added value to the story line, and you know what? It did.

It’s real. It happened. It still happens. New wives were often forced to bed their husbands on their wedding night not only to make the marriage legal in the eyes of God, but in hopes of immediately producing an heir.

Sadly, not every marriage at that time in history was for love. Rather, it was a business arrangement, often to bring two countries into alliance with one another.

Forced sex happened. And it still does. So we need to talk about it.

Today, people are still scared to discuss topics like rape. They feel it’s not appropriate, or they will continue to be victimized.

So TV shows have decided to open up the line of communication for us, and it seems to work.

In the recently released Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, a young girl commits suicide. The show generated multiple conversations about teens struggling and brought a voice to a topic that will never go away.

And that’s what’s so great about shows that depict the real world. It forces the population to continue talking about difficult topics.

Because in reality, there is never a series finale. The show always goes on.