Why Christians shouldn’t feel guilty for watching reality TV

This year has been a lot. The scale and frequency of horrors and atrocities feel wrong but have also started to feel familiar. I have spent much of the year in a heightened state of anxiety. With every ‘breaking news’ alert on my phone, I brace myself for more catastrophe. I have tried to pull myself together and remember the refrain delivered to Mary and Joseph and those who came to worship the infant Jesus: “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 1:20, Luke 1:30, Luke 2:10). 

In developing coping mechanisms for dealing with the state of the world, some choose avoidance, some running or mindful colouring. In the main, I choose reality TV. From The Great British Bake Off to Love Is Blind and Strictly Come Dancing, I love these shows. It’s the familiarity that makes them feel like an escape. When I switch on an episode, I know exactly what I am going to get. I know the Bake Off presenters will kick off with some skit or other that sets the scene for a twee hour of TV in which the biggest drama is that a cake does not rise. I know the judges on Strictly will dance in, and that the contestants will descend the staircase in elaborate outfits. 

I used to love watching films and going to the cinema, but I find that many blockbusters now will almost certainly have an element of something harrowing or dramatic, and that happy endings seem to be a relic from a bygone era. I find I choose to avoid surprises of any kind, if I can. 

People gravitate towards the familiar rather than the novel, particularly when feeling overwhelmed

Studies show that in certain situations, people gravitate towards the familiar rather than the novel – particularly when feeling overwhelmed. I’m reminded of the passage in Matthew 6: “Each day has enough trouble of its own” (v34). Why add worrying about whether the hero of the film you’re watching is going to come to a gruesome end? 

For years, I have kept my passion for reality TV secret. I’m a serious person with a serious job. I get paid to think for a living. But a life reading Dostoevsky alone is not well-rounded. It’s all about texture. Reality TV shows us much about human nature. We are all – even contestants on these shows – made in the image of God. People who are longing for meaning, wanting their lives to be worth something. I watch people build connections, support one another, search for and find love. Yes, there might be the occasional backstab but, on the whole, these shows teach me that people want to be good and kind to each other, and that we have more in common than we might believe. 

This December, I am looking forward to the Christmas TV specials: watched with family, winter outside the window and the smells of something delicious cooking inside. At the end of a year that has had an overwhelming sense of anxiety, it is here, in the arms of loved ones and in the love of God, that we can find comfort.