the age of reality?

I'm reading one of my literature textbooks again from college- and right around the turn of the century- writers, poets, authors, whatever were concerned with "realism." they felt that the romantic age was coming to a close and that a new era of realism was at hand.
They wanted their characters to be more fleshed out, and have less dramatic things happen to them. They wanted their readers to get inside the heads of their characters- to make their writing seem more "real." No more kings, princes, or melodrama- they felt that authors had the responsibility to depict life as realistically as possible.
This movement led to some really cool writers in the first half of the 20th century. Steinbeck, London, Frost, and my favorite- Hemmingway. their characters drank too much, smoked, cussed, and seemed more "real." You could almost feel the cold, smell the smells, see the sites, it seemed like you were reading about real people doing real things.
Forgive me, but I can't help but draw a parallel between then and now. The sitcom has given way to reality TV. We could see it coming- The Bradys tied up every problem in 30 minutes every week, and then Roseanne showed us what "real" white people were like- and now Reality TV puts us right in people's bedrooms in the middle of the night with the romantic green glow of night vision TV.
What ever happened to the idea that reading, going to the movies, watching TV was about escape? I want to get away from reality when I'm being entertained. I want to be distracted from what's real- I want a hope for the future, or and alternate universe. Distract me- make me think. Give me some good old fashioned sci-fi. Don't get me wrong- i like to pull the curtain back on the wizard from time-to-time too, but I still appreciate the attempt at production.
i know Jar-Jar was corny. I know that alot of those digital effects in movies don't look as good as stop-motion animation, but give me the fake anyway!
I just can't help but think that sometimes its cool to read The Count of Monte Cristo or some good old fashioned poetry by John Donne. i want more Star Trek on TV and less Road Rules. I don't care where the next Survivor is.

I'm sick of reality- I'm gonna go watch my x-files DVDs.