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“African American stereotypes in reality television
Stereotypes in reality television
“African American stereotypes in reality television
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In order to make a reality TV show successful, the program makers have to cast people with strong personalities that may conflict with each other (Cronin, 2016) and portray them in such a way that viewers engage with them. To create and maintain a level of engagement and excitement throughout the show, viewers have to be able to identify the characters’ roles in the show quickly. Therefore, those strong characters have to be placed into stock characters, also known as stereotypes (Gleason, 2013). According to Jain (2014) The Drama Queen, The Hunk, The I Am Not A Cute Girl, The Weirdo, The Manipulative Guy and The Know It All Douchebag are six types of reality TV contestants. Besides being able to place the character in a specific role, it is possible that the audience wants to form a relationship with the character. When viewers experience the feeling of knowing the performers in mass media, particularly on television, and form a social relationship with them by imaginatively interacting with them, this is known as parasocial interaction (Horton & Wohl, 1956). …show more content…
The casting process and knowledge of TV production companies is applicable to new contestants of a reality TV shows. Recurring contestants have already been placed in specific roles and a positive or negative parasocial relationship has already been developed by viewers. Enjoyment of a television shows derives from the viewer’s feelings towards the characters. Therefore, if viewers have a negative association with a recurring contestant, this can discourage audiences to view the
It is clear that in the world of reality television, personality and popularity are everything. Popularity on reality TV shows can translate into commercial viability and an unreal life beyond reality television.
Television viewers have more viewing choices than ever before in deciding how to spend their time with television. In recent years, reality television has become a popular genre for viewing audiences. According to Nabi (304), reality television programs, "film real people as they live out events (contrived or otherwise) in their lives.” One popular subgenre of reality television is romance-based competition shows. These shows typically follow a contestant on their search for love and as they choose between a group of attractive suitors. Over the course of an entire season, the lead contestant eliminates the group of suitors until only one-suitor remains and the couple becomes engaged.
Not to mention the fact that it always seems to magically start pouring rain the moment two people are left standing on a ten-foot pole above the Atlantic Ocean in the final challenge, introducing the controversial concept of whether or not reality TV is real at all, but merely a contrived series of events captured by a camera. While all of these negative arguments are valid, critics are underestimating the positives of the show. The reason why the series has managed to last through ten years, twenty seasons, two-hundred contestants, and dozens of locations varying from jungle isles to desert oases is that it offers a psychological case study in social and human behavior.... ... middle of paper ...
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...
The first effect of reality shows is the image it gives viewers. Reality shows give misconceptions of everyday life; the Real World and Jersey Shore show young adults relaxing, having a good time, and partying every day. The...
The Ugly Truth, a film which was released in 2009, displays many particular stereotypes and gender issues which we find within American society. Gender is made up of socially constructed ideas which are reinforced by society in regards to what it means to be masculine or feminine. We first learn gender from our parents; however they too had to first learn it from their families and society. Within the American society, the media takes on a large role in creating gender norms. The media is made up of films, magazines, television programs, and news papers. The Ugly Truth, although a funny film, perpetuates these stereotypes and ideas of gender provided by our society.
It is no secret that reality television shows often present contrived situations as reality. Many producers claim that there are no scripts used in the production of reality shows. They maintain that nothing in the lives of the participants is planned purely for viewers’ entertainment, and that what is presented in the show is their actual reality. However, most people know this to be untrue to a certain degree. The events and situations in reality shows are often staged, re-enacted, or cleverly edited to make them appear more dramatic, thereby more interesting, than they are. Elizabeth Larkin writes, “After so many “reality” programs, we can discern a pattern of “characters” that isn’t very far different from the stock characters found in fictional programming. There’s the sweet and naive person from a small town looking to make it big while still retaining small town values. There’s the party girl/guy who’s always looking for a good time and who shocks those around them—and the list goes on” (Larkin 290). Participants in reality television shows are often looking to gain wealth and fame, and they are willing to do anything necessary to achieve that.
For many years, racial and ethnic stereotypes have been portrayed on multiple television programs. These stereotypes are still illustrated on a day-to-day basis even though times have changed. Racial or ethnic stereotypes should not be perpetuated on certain television programs. These stereotypes provide false information about groups, do not account for every person, allow older generations to influence younger generations, create tension between groups, and affect people in many ways.
On television today you will see stereyotypes of male and female roles in society. These stereyotyps are exemplified in many tv shows and even childrens cartoons. Some shows which stereyotype sex roles include, the flintstones, the jetsons, and almost every sitcom on television.
helping. Television is making the shows out to seem like one race is better than another. For
“The sitcom is a jumble of mixed metaphors: the repetition compulsion of eternal sameness conjoined to a desire to overturn the established order; a profound aesthetic conservatism bundled with an ingrained desire to shock. Every sitcom possess not just a routine that it perpetually seeks to overturn but also a particular style of fomenting that chaos.”
They choose people who will cause a sensation but also look for conflict (“Reality TV”). The producers want to create story lines that the audiences want to see, so they use the footage they get to create story lines of conflict and sex since those seem to work the best (“Reality TV”). Although there is the reality of people being chosen from an everyday group of people, the rest is basically not true reality. Many people would probably agree that people act differently when they are being filmed as well. There is always going to be people who put on an act to make the audience like them.
Stereotypes In the Media Stereotypes play an important role in today's society and particularly in propaganda. According to the Webster's Dictionary, stereotyping is defined as a fixed conventional notion or conception of an individual or group of people, held by a number of people. Stereotypes can be basic or complex generalizations which people apply to individuals or groups based on their appearance, behaviour and beliefs. Stereotypes are found everywhere in the world. Though our world seems to be improving in many ways, it seems almost impossible to liberate it from stereotypes.
Print. The. Douglas, Susan J. - "The 'Standard'" “Young Women Learn Harmful Gender Stereotypes from Reality TV.” Reality TV. Ed.
A second reason for people’s love of reality television, is the fact that reality TV can stir the viewer’s emotions. “While some cheer for their favorite celebrity on Dancing with the Stars….” (Lehmann). “ Or cry with joy watching Say Yes to the Dress…” ( Lehmann). These are just two of many example quotes that show that people sometimes get very emotional by simply watching other people live out their lives so publicly. Many people id...