Post by Sabaa on Feb 12, 2005 2:31:45 GMT -5
How Real are Reality Shows?
by Sabaa J. Ali
The last few years have seen an outburst of ‘reality’ TV shows. These shows are set in real life situations, or simulated life situations. There is a voyeuristic element for viewers who enjoy the feeling that they can peep into the personal lives of others, without being discovered. Psychologists have a field day analyzing every move, interaction and relationship under the watchful eye of the camera.
There have been many hit shows, including Big Brother which is set in a house with every nook and cranny covered by hidden cameras (yes, in the bathroom too!). Participants are chosen carefully from the thousands of applications submitted and then by process of public voting by elimination, a winner is chosen after a number of weeks. After scrutinizing the ratings, producers aim to recruit those types of participants who have opposing viewpoints about life, gender equality and race in order to generate the much watchable onscreen friction and drama among house members. Furthermore, those with short fuse tempers make for exciting TV. The mix must be as volatile as a bubbling volcano, ready to burst on screen for complete viewing pleasure.
Survivor is another reality TV show which follows the lives and relationships of several participants who choose to live on a desert island for a fixed duration. The stakes are high as the winner must fight his or her way to earn a small fortune. Wheeling and dealing are essential playing tactics as players are encouraged to lie, cheat, even steal to win the ultimate prize.
Other types of reality shows are real-life situations, rather than within a simulated setting, involving auditions of singers (Pop Idol, American Idol, Fame Academy), business managers (The Apprentice) and a peep into celebrity lifestyles (The Osbournes, Newlyweds). These shows are all fired by sensationalism. Unless a complete 24 hour day can be shown on TV, editing will ensure that the mundane will be subdued and the dramatic will be blown out of proportion. Contestants of such shows have complained publicly that their personalities have appeared distorted and that much goes on behind the scenes to which the viewers are not privy.
The nastiest sort of reality show is based on physical makeovers. One example is the aptly named ‘Extreme Makeover’. Another is ‘The Swan’, where ‘ugly’ contestants must go through living hell for 3 months, endure masses of plastic surgery, near-starvation and exhaustive sessions in the gym, to finally be crowned ‘The Swan’ from among a total of 20 finalists. One wonders what type of mental anguish and identity crisis the contestants must suffer after going through such extremities.
Now we come to the ultimate reality show. It is watched on a daily basis and runs indefinitely. People tune in at least once a day to update on daily events. It is none other, than the Iraq war. A war which is covered in the same vein as a reality show, but it comes along with all the flaws, the one-sided storytelling, the dramatic exaggerations. It attempts to give viewers a feel of what’s going on, but at the same time encourages us to look at the war through the eyes of the reporter. There is use of rhetoric and misleading terminology. Hollywood style expressions downplay acts of barbarism, under the guise of glamorous phrases such as ‘Desert Storm’ and ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’.
‘Embedded Journalism’, a new reporting technique has been in practice which shows the reporters stationed in the field, relaying news directly where the action is. However, the authenticity of this type of technique has been debated as it presents a skewed perspective to what goes on. News reporters who live with the military only show where the shell is fired from, but there is no mention of what happens where it landed.
Woe to those who truly seek a complete picture of the war, who ask how many Iraqi civilians died since it started. Thumbs down at those who sympathize with ‘the resistance’, and who try to view the war from the side of those who are true victims. Not to forget those unfortunate, socially outcast souls who attempt to unravel the motives behind the instigation of this war. The establishment wants no mention of the pipelines, the finances and the power struggles.
In the face of this blatant one-sided story-telling and culture of sensationalism, the question remains to be answered: ‘How real are reality shows?’.
by Sabaa J. Ali
The last few years have seen an outburst of ‘reality’ TV shows. These shows are set in real life situations, or simulated life situations. There is a voyeuristic element for viewers who enjoy the feeling that they can peep into the personal lives of others, without being discovered. Psychologists have a field day analyzing every move, interaction and relationship under the watchful eye of the camera.
There have been many hit shows, including Big Brother which is set in a house with every nook and cranny covered by hidden cameras (yes, in the bathroom too!). Participants are chosen carefully from the thousands of applications submitted and then by process of public voting by elimination, a winner is chosen after a number of weeks. After scrutinizing the ratings, producers aim to recruit those types of participants who have opposing viewpoints about life, gender equality and race in order to generate the much watchable onscreen friction and drama among house members. Furthermore, those with short fuse tempers make for exciting TV. The mix must be as volatile as a bubbling volcano, ready to burst on screen for complete viewing pleasure.
Survivor is another reality TV show which follows the lives and relationships of several participants who choose to live on a desert island for a fixed duration. The stakes are high as the winner must fight his or her way to earn a small fortune. Wheeling and dealing are essential playing tactics as players are encouraged to lie, cheat, even steal to win the ultimate prize.
Other types of reality shows are real-life situations, rather than within a simulated setting, involving auditions of singers (Pop Idol, American Idol, Fame Academy), business managers (The Apprentice) and a peep into celebrity lifestyles (The Osbournes, Newlyweds). These shows are all fired by sensationalism. Unless a complete 24 hour day can be shown on TV, editing will ensure that the mundane will be subdued and the dramatic will be blown out of proportion. Contestants of such shows have complained publicly that their personalities have appeared distorted and that much goes on behind the scenes to which the viewers are not privy.
The nastiest sort of reality show is based on physical makeovers. One example is the aptly named ‘Extreme Makeover’. Another is ‘The Swan’, where ‘ugly’ contestants must go through living hell for 3 months, endure masses of plastic surgery, near-starvation and exhaustive sessions in the gym, to finally be crowned ‘The Swan’ from among a total of 20 finalists. One wonders what type of mental anguish and identity crisis the contestants must suffer after going through such extremities.
Now we come to the ultimate reality show. It is watched on a daily basis and runs indefinitely. People tune in at least once a day to update on daily events. It is none other, than the Iraq war. A war which is covered in the same vein as a reality show, but it comes along with all the flaws, the one-sided storytelling, the dramatic exaggerations. It attempts to give viewers a feel of what’s going on, but at the same time encourages us to look at the war through the eyes of the reporter. There is use of rhetoric and misleading terminology. Hollywood style expressions downplay acts of barbarism, under the guise of glamorous phrases such as ‘Desert Storm’ and ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’.
‘Embedded Journalism’, a new reporting technique has been in practice which shows the reporters stationed in the field, relaying news directly where the action is. However, the authenticity of this type of technique has been debated as it presents a skewed perspective to what goes on. News reporters who live with the military only show where the shell is fired from, but there is no mention of what happens where it landed.
Woe to those who truly seek a complete picture of the war, who ask how many Iraqi civilians died since it started. Thumbs down at those who sympathize with ‘the resistance’, and who try to view the war from the side of those who are true victims. Not to forget those unfortunate, socially outcast souls who attempt to unravel the motives behind the instigation of this war. The establishment wants no mention of the pipelines, the finances and the power struggles.
In the face of this blatant one-sided story-telling and culture of sensationalism, the question remains to be answered: ‘How real are reality shows?’.
