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Concept of reality television and its effect
Concept of reality television and its effect
Concept of reality television and its effect
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In Cassie Heidecker’s “The Real, the Bad, and the Ugly”, she explores the realities of reality television. She first admits she watches the very unrealistic culinary television shows with her husband for the shows amuse them. Since the shows are not realistic, Heidecker questions what the reality of reality television shows. She comes to a conclusion that the ideas of the shows are not real, but the people who play the characters are real. She believes characters and their situations are not real but the everyday lives of the people in-between the episodes are a part of our reality. These people playing roles in their shows must be at least a little like themselves while off the screen, which is most definitely real. Heidecker expresses that reality television is not real concerning the show, but of the people who have real lives beyond what the screen plays. …show more content…
She supports this opinion very well but what she does not completely support is that some people watch reality television to get away from the realities of life. Reality television is created to provide connections between the audience and the almost predictable scenarios in television. Cassie does write, “reality television has something that viewers automatically sympathize with,” (p. 145). Although in context she is describing the connections between the viewers and the unscripted world of the contestants, the quote still applies. The viewers not only sympathize with the characters, but they almost always know the outcome of the show as opposed to the unpredictable world of their
Producers of reality television shows often attempt to imitate many common stereotypes, behaviors, and emotions that go hand in hand with everyday life in the real world today. As a matter of fact, the aspect of reality within TV shows often proves as the foremost reason to why individuals decide to dedicate themselves to watching a show on a regular basis. Viewers frequently feel inner connections to particular characters or events that occur throughout a given reality TV show. These connections provide viewers with a sense of purpose watching a show since it may have an impact on how they go about their own lives within the real world. On the other hand, I generally have limited experience watching reality TV shows throughout my recent past, but for this assignment I decided to watch and evaluate a few episodes of the show, My 600-lb Life.
The emergence and soon popularity of reality TV in some degree demonstrates the huge market of selling “real experience” through exposing “realities” of privacy, relationship between players, etc. (Deery 2004 in TV program area.). However, reality TV may not be intrinsically “real” though almost all involved players are unprofessional actors and programs are usually highly inscribed. Players are actually selected carefully (e.g. audition or interviews) and constrained by various signed agreements and all filmed scene sections are delicately edited with special purposes, making reality TV kind of erasing reality and fiction together (Bingchun & George (2003)).
Imagine a distant post-apocalyptic future in which a large silver box has just been excavated from the ruins of what was once Los Angeles, a box that contains stack after stack of DVD’s with titles like Survivor, The Bachelor, Biggest Loser, The Swan, Real World, The Apprentice, and Hell’s Kitchen. What might anthropologists conclude about our 21st century society if these shows were their only glimpse into how we lived our lives? Francine Prose ponders this same question in her essay “Voting Democracy off the Island: Reality TV and the Republican Ethos,” in which she asks not only what future anthropologists might deduce, but, “for that matter,” what “contemporary TV-addicted children and adults” might realize if they were to more closely examine their motivation for watching these shows (22). Salman Rushdie, in his article “Reality TV: A Dearth of Talent and the Death of Mortality,” suggests that we need to examine reality television closely because “it tells us things about ourselves,” and even if we don’t think it does, it “ought to,” a claim that suggests that if we merely brush off reality television as a fad, we might be missing something inherently valuable about our nature (16). In her essay, “The Distorting Mirror of Reality Television,” Sarah Coleman suggests that reality television offers a distorted reflection, a “dark view of humanity in the guise of light entertainment,” a consideration that asks us to see who we are in this distorted reflection of our values (19). The question then is: what do we see when we see ourselves in this “dime-store mirror” (“Reality TV” 16)? Whatever the answer to this question might be, the question itself suggests that there is something inherently human about our fascination with r...
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...
The Jersey Shore, The Bachelor, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and The Girls Next Door are just a few of the hundreds of Reality Television shows that are on today and have pushed the classic Brady Bunch family style sitcom aside. According to a study performed by the University of Michigan Health System, an average of children ages 2-5 spend 32 hours a week in front of a TV—watching television and children ages 6-11 spend about 28 hours a week in front of the TV. A majority of shows that dominate the airwaves today are Reality Television shows that can easily influence the young children and teens of society. In “Reality Television - Educational or a Waste of Time?” Marvin Pirila discusses the false realism Reality Television conveys their audience, the stereotypes that are portrayed in shows, and the poor ethics and values that give their viewers the wrong idea. The writer exercises a great use of effectiveness when portraying his position on the topic by having a great use of Logos, Ethos, and Pathos to appeal to his readers.
Whether we watch a group of people live together in a house (big brother), or watch them build the house (the Block), reality television exposes that little peeping tom in all of us. Reality TV satisfies that instinct of prying into the personal affairs of others, and the reality of reality television is that as humans we enjoy this. Reality TV is not much different from normal programs, like any program, reality television has the essentials, it has a mix of characters, it puts those characters in situation, and the result is usually a failure or success. But the catch of reality television is that the characters are real people, the story is not scripted, and with any failure or successes comes emotion. But does this reality TV revolution present the viewers with real life? Or does it present what the TV producers want the viewers to see?
From my experiences when watching reality television , it is always interesting to find out the character or people and knowing what they are really thinking. It is not very hard to decipher the moments of when a person in a reality show is fully aware and guarding themselves with the camera around versus the moments when the cameras are forgotten....
Reality television has been around since the late 1900's. It is a genre of television that captures supposedly non-scripted real-life situations. Although reality tv is unquestionably entertaining, the content is far from real. Reality shows are only "real" when referring to the unscripted footage. Though the footage is unscripted, that doesn’t mean its unwritten. Strategic editing and predetermined constraints play a huge role in the finished product broadcasted on television. Producers and editors spend hours molding together clips to create an episode full of struggles and drama.
Murray, S., Ouellette, L., & American Council of Learned Societies. (2009). Reality TV: Remaking television culture. New York: New York University Press.
Jameson, Jaynee. "The Harsh Reality of Unreal Reality Television | Teen Opinion Essay." Teen Ink | A Teen Literary Magazine and Website. 13 Sept. 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. .
Television has been a pastime around the world for centuries. With new forms erupting all over the place, a fairly interesting genre known as reality television has become popularized despite its rather intriguing concept of what the average person may call “reality.” Although the most popular shows are not often watched in order to benefit the viewer, reality tv has been thought of to be negatively affecting the spectators. With the many mood swings and the adrenaline rushing arguments, the audience is very easily influenced by the actions they are being exposed to in these programs and can undertake some of the characteristics shown.
Media producers all around the world have discovered that so called “Reality Television” programs are the key to maximising viewer bases and therefore profits. It is undisputed that Reality Television makes money. This has resulted in immense amounts of these programs being plastered across our screens. While these programs line the pockets of producers and companies, they are not necessarily beneficial to their audiences and the society we live in.
Lehmann, Carolin. “Reality TV: A Blessing or a Curse? An Analysis of the Influence of Reality TV on U.S. Society.” Academia. Edu 5 Nov. 2012. 29 Nov. 2013.
People enjoy the realness and entertainment of Reality TV. According to Skeggs and Wood (2012 p23) ‘It’s a catch-all category for a variety of different one-off programmes, series and formats that follows real people and celebrities and their everyday or out of the ordinary experience’
In this day and age there isn’t hardly a person who doesn’t watch some form of reality television. Whether it be 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 to 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