is it ok to use the word 'you' in a persuasive essay?

Question

As in:
"Where else do you see desperate ladies act like crazed maniacs for a sad 15 minutes of fame, or as they’d like you to believe the love of.."

yes sounds good so far

thanks halida. =) could you also tell me if this:

"This show is the epitome of trash TV, a blunt rejection of good taste and decency."

is a balanced sentence? (have two principle clauses). could i use a semicolon in place of the comma?

Your comma is the correct punctuation.
Your sentence is balanced, but you only have one clause. Since your sentence has only one verb (is), it only has one clause. The last part (a blunt rejection of good taste and decency) is an object complement, modifying "epitome."