Friday, December 11, 2009

Reality TV

The popularity of reality TV in our society is something that is hard to ignore and should be addressed. A lot of these reality TV shows like America's Next Top Model, American Idol, Project Runway, and So You Think You Can dance, tie in with ideal of the American Dream because they give people the hope that they can be famous too. A lot of these shows emphasize that anyone can make it, no matter what kind of a background you come from. There is always someone who on these shows that makes it pretty far, but came from a broken home, a small town, has a handicap, or some other challenge to overcome. While on the one hand it is good to have a diversity of people on the show and to believe in yourself, being a finalist on American Idol is still not a possibility for most people. Sure, someone who never thought they would make it big always wins American Idol, there were still the thousands of those who auditioned and didn't make the cut. Furthermore, the "reality" of reality tv shows is very questionable too. I recently watched a short clip of a talk given by the filmmaker Bill Guttentag about why reality tv is so popular:



Firstly, Guttentag points out, that is with all television shows, the primary concern is making money and selling a product. Reality TV shows are much cheaper to make then regular dramas
because you don't have to pay for expensive sets, or pay lots of money for involved screenplays, or hire expensive actors. Moreover, in the end the pay off for popular reality TV shows has been
much more then regular dramas. Thus, there is more incentive for producers to continue creating reality TV shows because they like to play it safe and show what they know sells.
Another important point to consider is that most of the time reality tv shows aren't all that real. The producers of the show want to create the kind of drama and dialogue that sells. So, a lot of
times the clips that we see on the actual show are taken out of context and manipulated in a way so that it fits into the idea of what the producer wants it to be. Personally I enjoy my share of
reality TV (Top Chef, SYTYCD, Project Runway anyone?) also, and there is nothing wrong with watching it for entertainment. It is just important to remember to distinguish between"reality" tv shows and actual reality.









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2 comments:

  1. MariaDecember 12, 2009 at 4:26 PM

    As entertaining as reality TV can be I find that these programs tend to give off the wrong ideas. As you pointed out the idea of the American Dream is a constant aspect when it comes down to the finalists. It is often easy to cheer on the underdog who is just trying to obtain a better life. In an age where reality television has taken over and effected our culture for the worse. Too many sit back hoping to appear on a game show and win big, instead of attempting to accomplish goals. Reality TV really is anything but reality, and this is something we must keep in mind as we watch these programs.

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  2. JoakimDecember 13, 2009 at 9:18 PM

    Susan Boyle from Britain is a good example of someone making it to the top from nothing. She came in on "Britains got talent", and everyone thought she would fail - now look at her, highest 1st week sales of any artist in 09 - even beat eminem by more than 100,000 cd's sold in the first week. but now we start to see her cracking under the sudden pressure on her. Reality tv is fun to follow once in a while, but often when someone rises to stardom as fast as they can through reality tv, they just aren't ready for it.

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