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Reality TV and the decline of society
Reality TV and the decline of society
How reality TV has affected how society interprets the world
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According to the Washington Post there are over 300 reality television shows that captivate millions of viewers (Yahr), but why? Simply stated, entertainment, reality television shows capture “real life” and tell a supposedly unscripted and planned story capitalizing on someone else misfortune. Reality television follows a general trend in our society making private lives public and celebrating public humiliation, but why do a mass majority of our society find this entertaining? The popular show The Biggest Loser follows the general trend of reality television in society by using public humiliation of its contestants to create entertainment and the audience enjoys this humiliation because it increases their self esteem. The purpose of reality …show more content…
Producers of reality television twist the film and cast the contestants in a poor light to give added drama, “production ordered her to run, and she said, ‘I can’t.’ She was seriously injured. But they edited her to make her look lazy and bitchy and combative” (Callahan). By misrepresenting the situation this could affect the contestants reputations causing negative side affects in their real lives outside of the …show more content…
In order to ‘motavate’ the contestants to continue to work out the trainers yell obscene commands, “You’re going to die before your children grow up” or “We’ve picked you out a fat person coffin” (Callahan). These backhanded comments humiliate the contestants about their weight, but Hollywood okays this because it gets an entertaining reaction out of the contestants. In addition to this harassment contestants are forced to disclose personal information and have emotional breakdowns on national television. The Biggest Loser does this in order to ‘help’ the contestants to lose weight, but exposing their private lives and discovering their flaws increases the level of entertainment. According to William Egginton, a professor at John Hopkins University and author of the article “The Best or the Worst of Our Nature: Reality TV and the Desire for Limitless Change”, “we raise false idols only to bring them crashing down, we allow ourselves both to maintain the star culture in all its vapid vacuity and to wreak our revenge on it at the same time, by replacing the stars with those who are, in fact, their truth and mirror image, and then thrilling to their humiliation” (Egginton). The show features regular people who are idolized for making a positive change in their life in a dramatic way, but the show tears them down. Viewers find this humiliation entreating because tearing down their idols increases
The failing television networks have found a number of elements in reality shows which can save them money. These elements have combined to improve rating, while also improving the amount of money brought into the networks. The networks have had pressure from stockholders to improve the return on their investments, or possible begin to lose their money. So the networks have discovered ways to save money with reality’ shows one being they haven’t had to pay actors. All the main characters of this shows are contests and only one will be ~paid” at the end. In addition to not paying actors, they have also been able to cut back greatly on the number of writers used to write scripts. The reality shows have been in a way been “pre-tested” in other nations. The U.S. networks know that the shows can be successful because of the success they have had in Europe. These facts have all come together ...
“ I remember thinking when she was killed I was going to get killed to as well”(Hollandsworth). Pageant girls were scared to sleep and perform because they believed pedophiles were at the competitions seeking out who to kill next. Which lead to cause girls to feel what they claim to love will be the end for them. Being a concerned writer he adds a reported statement that is distasteful, believing it would hit parents to reconsider what they have their daughters involved in. “ Parents who put their daughters in pagaent can contribute in direct and concrete ways to the precious sexualization of their daughter”(Hollandsworth). People will see it as bad parenting and consider the consequences the young ladies may face by exhibiting unchild performance, but girls are only doing as they are told will help them win. "They are always applying makeup to their girls ' faces, dressing them up, and dyeing their hair...the message these little girls take away is that natural beauty isn 't enough — that their self-esteem and sense of self-worth only comes from being the most attractive girl in the room”(Hollandsworth). Confidence levels of young girls are low so they try to cover themselves with makeup to hide who they truly are and what they look like naturally. The comfort of their skin is not wanted they want to be seen as
The first wave of reality TV shows (such as Survivor, The Weakest Link and Dog Eat Dog) played on people's collective anxieties about the new workplace culture whereby nothing is secure. The threat of expulsion and humiliation is what draws people to this style of programming. This was followed by the lifestyle programs, which were the once removed cousins of Reality TV. Naturally no one is entirely satisfied with the way they live so these programs played on people's desires to improve their lifestyle and living conditions. The third wave of Reality shows (such as Joe Millionaire, The Bachelor and For Love or Money) plays with people's fears of falsified relationships; are there ulterior reasons behind a `supposed' loving relationship (such as money)? The main appeal of Reality television is that the viewer experiences raw human emotions like humiliation, deceit and rejection from a removed perspective. The ability to inspect and analyse the happenings of others without being seen takes on a god-like perspective. It invokes the fantasy of having access to all that is hidden.
How Reality TV affects the audience and the characters who were participating into it? Does it really give knowledge to people who were watching and supporting? Or is it just the sake of money and exposing their appearance on television? When it comes to watching television, people at home can choose which types of program they want to want for many reasons. Some people look to television for inspiration; others want to be kept informed about their surroundings and the world. In the article entitled, “Reality TV and Culture” by Jack Perry, he argues, there are some good points to how reality television are formed and offered. Perry explains that, not all of the shows are designed to encourage and promote dangerous and unrealistic. However,
Reality based television has a broad landscape ranging from competitive game-like shows to programs following the daily lives of a group of people. Every major network now has some form of reality programming because the genre’s shows are high in viewership and require low costs for production. The genre is appealing to viewers because it provides them with a first-hand look into the lives of everyday people, which allows them to observe social behavior that helps them determine what is appropriate or not (Tyree, 2011, p. 397). Since the majority of modern reality stars start out as unknowns, frequent viewers of reality programming believed that fame is obtainable if they appear on a popular show (Mendible, 2004). According to Mendible’s evaluation of the genre in the article Humiliation, Subjectivity, and Reality TV, people enjoy reality programs beca...
She grabs the foundation and smothers her face with it; she creates a mask. She sprays the hairspray till the fumes clog the air. She squeezes into her bejeweled dress and puts on her heels. She transforms into someone who is unrecognizable, and fake. This is a little girl. The process of preparing for a beauty pageant is very demanding and stressful while little girls spend hours training and getting ready for their appearance on stage. Weeks are spent choreographing their dance routines and thousands of dollars are spent on, “glitzy” dresses, fake teeth, and spray tans. As long as beauty pageants for girls under the age of 16 continue, there will be an increase in mental and physical issues, an increase in the objectification of women, and there will be negative impacts for little girls.
Reality based television has a broad landscape ranging from competitive game-like shows to programs following the daily lives of a group of people. Every major network now has some form of reality programming because these programs are high in viewership and require low costs for production. The genre’s shows provide audiences with a first-hand look into the lives of everyday people, which creates resonance among viewers because they feel like they can relate to the characters on screen (Hasinoff, 2008). Since the majority of modern reality stars start out as unknowns, frequent viewers of reality television have essentially bought into the belief that they too can achieve overnight fame by appearing on a popular show (Mendible, 2004). According to Mendible’s evaluation i...
We see that even celebrities are like this, so it becomes socially acceptable to be selfish or sociopathic. This is because “[reality shows] tell us that existence is to be centered on the practices and desires of the self rather than the common good” (Hedges, 32). The goal of a reality show is to acquire the sought after fame and wealth. Regardless of the method used to get to the end goal, people will do whatever it takes to reach it. This is why reality shows immensely influence the social relations we make in life. Seeing people on television doing these unnecessary and malevolent actions, it urges us to do the same; as if doing so, will help us reach our own end goal. And this is precisely what happens in the reality show “Survivor,” as Tina, Mad Dog Maralyn’s best friend, casts her vote to eliminate her, despite their friendship. It didn’t matter how strong their friendship was, when it came to winning, Tina paid no heed to Mad Dog. She states after her vote, that “it [had] nothing to do with [Mad Dog]. This vote has everything to do with a promise I made. I love you" (Hedges, 32). This sort of backstabbing betrayal is only further intensified by the magnitude of competition. Tina clearly could not prioritize her friendship with Mad Dog in a setting in which winning meant everything. She was blinded by the temptations of greed and the desire to be a celebrity. Another way to put it, is that “human beings [have] become a commodity in [the] celebrity culture… They are objects, like consumer products” (Hedges, 29). As a society, individualism has been cruelly thrown out for the pristine image celebrities are presented to us by the media. No longer do we value the unique individuals, we all want to become celebrities; manufactured to the point where we do not have an identity of our own. Celebrity images are essentially reflections of
What pleasure do you get from watching a group of people humiliate themselves in the name of television? Media both in the UK and around. the world seems to have "discovered" that so-called "reality" shows are. very profitable, resulting in a growing string of such shows in recent years. years.
Cynthia M. Frisby, in her article "Getting Real with Reality TV", analyze reasons why audiences are attracted to reality television programs. According to Frisby, reality television shows have captivate audiences because, apparently people enjoy watching other people 's lives, and they can compare themselves and lives with others. Different people in society see reality tv in different ways: some see it as something to lift it, in either way reality affect society both positively and negatively.
Papacharissi, Z & Mendelson, AL 2007, ‘An exploratory study of reality appeal: Uses and Gratifications of reality TV shows’, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, vol. 51, issue 2, June, pp. 355-370.
Many reality TV shows are driving young kids to be driven by money and fame. Our reality television makes us seem ignorant to other countries. Young viewers of these reality TV shows do not realize that most of the shows are often scripted and are not “real”. Although the programming of reality TV can be highly entertaining, it is important to be aware of the messages, and values that these shows often portray. Since reality TV has such a strong foothold in American pop culture, it is likely not going anywhere or changing its content any time soon.
For example, even though all the dangerous, extreme moves wrestlers use may look real, it is staged and scripted. Also, many writers like to incorporate racial and sexist stereotypes in their shows. With all that put together, Reality TV sends the wrong message to its viewers. Reality Television has a negative impact on society because it is scripted, writers use too many stereotypes to define a character, and it sends the wrong message to its viewers. Reality television has changed television in a way that no one could have imagined.
In this day and age, there isn’t hardly a person who doesn’t watch some form of reality television. Whether it is an adrenaline pumping baking competition, a talent based show with singing and dancing, or the pure entertainment of a day in the life of celebrities most everyone watches some form of reality television. There seems to be a few different sides of reality TV that make it so entertaining for people to watch. There seems to be the shows that lure people in because of the motivational aspect, the drama, or the deep down genuine appearance. However, most people are oblivious to the fact that the screen they are watching isn’t usually what actually happens in real life. James Poniewozik explains the manipulation going on behind the camera
One of the main reasons for watching reality TV is to provide people with entertainment. To an extent, the majority of society has a desire to explore what goes on in the world around them. People like watching drama that occurs on public television. “Insults, temper tantrums, selfishness, gross behavior, and plain old stupidity- these are the main ingredients for most of today’s reality TV shows. Guess who is watching them? Millions of viewers just like you” (Cohen). “Viewers cannot seem to get enough of the torture, embarrassment, temptation, and above all, drama of other regular, everyday people being placed in unrealistic settings and manipulated for the world to see” (Pontius). These two quotes state that the reason that the majority of our society watches these shows, is that they are entertained by the supposed reality that is portrayed.