Take-home Final

Laura Grindstaff discusses the role of “ordinary people” in daytime talk shows. According to Grindstaff, these talk shows focus more on the issues of ordinary people rather than experts and celebrity guests. The ordinary guests on the show are coached to speak and act in a certain way, however, in order to make them presentable for mass audiences (Grindstaff, 18). The mind/body hierarchy comes into play here because daytime talk shows produce or reinforce the ordinariness that is associated with emotion (the body) while expertness is often associated with the mind (21). The more emotion that is palpable, the more real these ordinary people will seem. Grindstaff calls this the “money shot”. Audiences expect a money shot that includes extreme bodily expressions of joy, outrage or sorrow (19). Ordinary people are presented this way for mass consumption and although this exposure gives ordinary individuals a voice in the TV industry, they are only able to do so within the confines of what the producers allow them to. Daytime talk shows include a multitude of hierarchies that both reinforce and challenge ideas of class in American culture.
The cultural binaries surrounding daytime talk shows reveal notions of class hierarchy in the US. The serious/emotional refers to the idea that serious political debates among experts can still get heated and emotional, but it is the type of moneyshot that distinguishes class (20). These more serious shows have a tasteful money shot that encourages rational discussion rather than the emotional displays of ordinary people. Daytime talk shows are also often called trashy, which has become synonymous with being lower class. “Respectable” people of higher social classes avoid trash television due to th...

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...y specific type of user. The site is used primarily by middle or upper class women. There is a clear distinction of classy versus trashy content on the site. Most of the images that users interact with are about fashion, cooking, and home decoration. The website aims to keep its content in the realm of what upper class women would want to see such as recipes and DIY ideas for the home. In comparison Tumblr, another image-driven website, covers everything from television show fandoms to pornography and has a much wider user base. Pinterest has distinguished itself from other websites and made a name for itself to promote classy content. Unlike other social media, Pinterest does not have a forum for users to express their emotions or reveal their private lives. It is instead restricted to acceptable public content that is often associated with higher class lifestyles.