Think you've never been betrayed? If you've ever watched reality television, you sure as heck have been taken for a fool.

I'm fairly certain that everyone who would be reading this is familiar with my feelings toward reality television programs, and how I think they are an inane, superficial manifestation of the inane superficial desires of those with low self-esteem, little sense of self-worth and no common sense.

Now before all of you bachelorette fans start thinking I am an arrogant snot, let it be known and digested that this is simply my opinion of the industry, not necessarily of the people who watch it. The reality tv powers that be are pandering to the lowest common denominator, not the median.

But my spirited arrogance aside, I am still compelled to make an observation.

We can sit our potato chip asses on the couch and absorb the wisdom of the apprentice, record the love tips from the bachelor and live our lives vicariously through the cast of Survivor. We can talk about the disappointment that unsettles our bones when we found out Constantine was booted from American Idol. And we can stare in the mirror and pick out all the imperfections on our faces and bodies that we would have fixed had we the chance to be on Extreme Makeover.

We can do all of this...and then we can stand back and see how we've all been played like fiddles.

The camera in our faces makes us acutely aware of every blink, twitch and sway of our person...our digital images are rarely our real selves. We can act like we're comfortable with that big black hole of a lens gaping at us, but that's just it...we're acting. And acting ain't reality.

Then there is the harsh but true fact that a desired outcome for entertainment value may not always unfold itself in front of the camera--we're not always going to catch the grocery store butchers repackaging decaying meat or we're not always going to find true love on a reality television show. But in the dog-eat-dog universe of ratings and pandering, this excuse doesn't fly. It drives otherwise ethical producers to resort to dirty their hands and dun dun dun...stage something for the camera!

Cardinal sin in broadcast journalism, but lifeblood of reality television. If you stage it, it makes for clutch entertainment. The audience will soak it up. But what are we then left with? A suped-up, false sense of reality? And since reality television gets the majority of the viewership in this upside-down world, that's a lot of mislead minds...

There, I've said my piece. And now I'm going to go cry myself to sleep because my life is not like reality televsion says it could be.