I admit it — I watch a lot of reality TV shows. It’s a great way to procrastinate. “My Strange Addiction,” “Hoarding: Buried Alive,” “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” are all addictive TV shows that require no thought to enjoy, perfect for passing time. Yet despite the mindless entertainment I get from those shows, I can still think critically about them. And, hypocritical as this might sound, the most accurate word to describe these kinds of shows is “exploitative.”

What makes these shows both entertaining and exploitative is the way they portray the people on them. On “My Strange Addiction,” they will show a person with a problem — specifically, an aptly termed “strange addiction” — and expand into how the problem affects their life. They’ll show the person partaking in their bizarre dependence, then show how friends and family react to the addiction and how weird they think it is. On hoarding shows, they’ll show the person’s house and include horrific details about the health effects. It’s very sensationalistic.

It appeals to viewers because it’s something so bizarre and unheard of. We get to look into someone else’s life, and sometimes feel better about ourselves: “Maybe I got a bad grade on my organic chemistry test, but at least I’m not dying of liver failure because of my uncontrollable urge to drink nail polish.” The people on the shows are intriguing, and most people haven’t met anyone like them. But on the other side, the people on these programs aren’t a freak show. They’re real people with real problems. It’s true that the show gets them help that they might not get otherwise, but the way the people are portrayed mocks and makes light of what they struggle with.

Another exploitative show, though different from exploiting people’s mental health issues, is “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” The show is about Alana Thompson, or “Honey Boo Boo,” who participates in child beauty pageants. The tone of the show is, “Look at these freaks! Look how fat they are! Look at the weird food they eat! Look at how redneck they are!”

All families have quirks. Plenty of families have quirks that could easily be made fun of on reality TV show. But in actuality, the family on “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” is worth a second look. The family gets about $20,000 per episode, and instead of spending it on a bigger house or fancy clothes, June Thompson has a college saving funds for her children. The family also debunks the stereotype that rural Southerners are intolerant hicks — Alana Thompson has a gay uncle whom she loves to brag about, and the whole family is very accepting of him.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t watch reality TV. There’s no getting rid of it. I do think TV shows could do a little more to take the sensationalism out, but then again, that would destroy the viewer base. So instead, watch these shows with a grain of salt. For shows about people’s problems, think of the people featured as, well, people, and realize that they certainly aren’t laughing at their problems. For shows that feature a family (such as Honey Boo Boo) look past appearances and instead judge the family by how they treat others.

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