Reality in a Different Light - Chelsea Starr

In today’s society, reality television is a popular pastime that many people enjoy. Over the past few years, reality TV has increased greatly in popularity. What are Americans taking away from these shows, and what makes them so popular? These shows are created to engage the audience and generate money for the parent companies, and not to demonstrate what reality truly is. Reality cannot be defined by one show, and it varies from person to person. However entertaining it may be, reality TV is not at all a glimpse of what reality truly is. Reality television is a form of entertainment that involves staged situations which attempts to portray the life of Americans in extreme situations and non-ideal lifestyles, using excessive drama.

Everyone knows that not everything on the internet is true, as is the case with what is presented on television. Reality shows claim to be a glimpse of reality, exposing different situations and are often defined as “non-fictional programming in which portrayal is presumed to present current, historical events or circumstances” (Reality). In all actuality, most reality shows are created to entertain a specific audience as opposed to informing people about someone’s lifestyle. In addition to entertainment, the ultimate goal of any company or corporation is to make a profit. As it turns out, many of the most popular reality TV shows are owned by the same parent company. For this reason, the goal then becomes to net the greatest amount of money through advertisements, whether or not the shows are factual. Therefore, reality TV is a market whose objective is to entertain the audience. This is established using specific formats for the shows, pre-arranged and extreme situations, exposing non-ideal lifestyles, and dramatic circumstances.

The basic format of a reality television show is enough to show that it is not reality. A reality show, much like any story, has a plot line that is followed very closely. In this sense, “there is a beginning, middle, and end, with character development, goals, conflicts, and resolution…sympathetic characters, interesting settings, and a sequence of events that provokes, edifies, and/or entertains” (Unscripted). While some may argue that life does follow a logical sequence much like that of a story, it is difficult to prove that there is often a happy ending as seems to always be the case in many reality shows. In life, nothing follows the traditional story format exactly to a tee. Instead, there are new events that occur, altering the customary path. Not all situations end happily; in the real world, there is not only one “winner”. For this reason, reality TV is not considered “reality” because nothing in life is perfect, or follows a logical sequence like a story does. Another example of this arises when one considers how many hours of footage are recorded to make an episode of the show.

In addition to having a story line, reality shows require ample amounts of footage so the format follows a traditional story line. The Writer’s Guild of America explains how the story of a reality show develops. Countless hours of footage are taken, and it stands to reason that “if you follow anyone around with a camera for long enough, you’ll find that most of what they do is distressingly boring-so often our work deals with issues of sequence and context and plausibility. Unscripted storytelling is often about working backwards from the ending in the most interesting way possible, crafting an inevitable occurrence into an emotional, humorous, or provocative journey” (Unscripted). In this way, the producers and writers of reality TV shows transform the actual footage to make it seem more exciting and intriguing. The intent of reality TV is therefore to entertain the audience, and not to demonstrate reality. The writers and producers manipulate real footage, but do so in a manner that interests the viewers. The counter-argument that not everything in reality shows is scripted exists, but does not hold together when one considers how the shows are actually created. Since the shows are transformed so much from the original format, it is easy for the producers to slant things. In this way, they leave out key information to allude to certain situations, making them appear to be reality. This again demonstrates that reality television is not completely truth, and that it is skewed to increase the entertainment value. This is very closely related to “extreme situations” that occur in many reality TV shows.

As one watches a reality show, he or she often views numerous exaggerated and exciting situations that occur. Reality TV purposely places the characters in these extreme situations, thus causing certain events to occur. For example, on The Bachelor, the couples are placed in romantic settings where it would be easy to fall in love with someone else. They are usually on a beautiful island, and the mood is perfect. Shows such as this one purposely try to create drama to cause catastrophes to occur. According to J. Rupert Thompson, a director and producer, “reality TV is a very manipulated format where the basis of it is that real people are put into unreal situations to create a story” (Ventre). While reality television does contain some aspects of reality, the bulk of the “reality” portion comes from the non-exciting parts of the show. Some argue that life can be exciting, and that many people do experience dramatic situations as the ones depicted on reality shows. This does not appear to be the case when one considers how most Americans are not placed in situations as those that constantly seem to occur on reality TV shows. Some reality shows present situations in which the characters must make supposed near life-or-death decisions. In reality, most average people are not faced with these dramatic decisions as reality TV shows try to suggest. Realistically, the people on these reality shows are not facing a life-or-death situation as well, because the parent company will not accept the liability. These dramatic situations are another example of how reality shows do not represent reality.

Another aspect of reality television shows that proves that they are not an indication of reality is demonstrated when one considers the amount of drama that occurs on these shows. The producers specifically add the drama to keep the viewers hooked, and to have them watch the next episode. After they initially captivate the viewers, the audience is more inclined to continue watching to see what happens next. In this sense, reality shows can be described as addictive because the viewers want to continue seeing the exciting, dramatic story unfold. Most people’s lives do not contain the level of excitement and controversy that reality shows possess. Reality television is so popular due to the fact that it allows people to imagine themselves in similar situations. Whether the show is about surviving in the wild, dating, or recording the life of someone, Americans try to relate their lives to the show. A study conducted by the Journal of Consumer Research in September investigated why reality TV shows are so popular. This study found that the everyday life aspects of reality TV are not popular; instead, the exciting, out-of-the-ordinary experiences are those that are the most entertaining. According to the Journal of Consumer Research, one participant, Gina, explains how the “entertainment value resided in the program's provision of a situation that was beyond the viewer's daily ‘real’ life” (Why). This study also proved that “people may find a certain fascination in contrasting what they think they would do in a given situation to the actions taken by the ‘real’ participants — a group of individuals they perceive as their peers…the resulting experience is a complexly constructed — and highly individualized — experience the researchers call ‘hyperauthenticity’ ” (Why). Similarly, a study at the University of South Carolina found that “in contrast to news programs, however, the majority of reality fare depicts common people engaging in uncommon (wilderness survival, international travel) and common (dating, home redecorating) tasks, giving viewers the chance to compare and contrast their own lives with those of the show’s ‘protagonist’ ” (Rose 284). This proves that the popularity of reality TV is not based on the aspects of the show that depict reality. Instead, the interesting situations are the ones that generate the most viewers. For this reason, the producers must make the shows different from most people’s actual lives to entice the viewers to watch, thus detracting from the reality of the show.

Additionally, reality TV attempts to present facts to the viewers, describing how the particular situation is reality. Reality TV makes certain situations seem ordinary. It also attempts to show that everyone experiences these chaotic aspects of life. In this way, “reality TV itself constantly reminds us how fallacious is the desire for an all-explanatory theory or a definitive analysis” (Piper 134). This quote from an Oxford article describes how reality TV attempts to establish a standard among viewers, and how they try to show that what is depicted in the show is truly reality. This is not the case, when one considers the different types of reality shows that exist. There is such a wide range of shows that they could not all be combined together to give a true representation of reality. In this sense, ideal lifestyles cannot be accurately represented in all of the reality shows because there is such a wide variance between the different types of shows.

In regards to non-ideal lifestyles, the reality show “Survivor” is an excellent example of non-ideal. According to Robert Thompson, head of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, shows such as “Survivor” are supposed to be about people stranded somewhere. Instead, there are many amenities that exist that make these situations far from the reality of surviving in the wild. He claims that “as much as ‘Survivor’ refers to the fact that it’s a TV show, we never, ever, see a camera, a microphone, a helicopter. Most people know, or would if they bothered to think about it, that these situations are crowded with staff and technicians just outside the shots, but they choose to ignore it. We watch these shows to be amused, so we suspend our disbelief, just like we do when we see a play on the stage” (Online). Most people know that these shows do not truly demonstrate aspects of reality, but they watch them anyway, for entertainment. In this sense, reality TV does not qualify as presenting reality.

Today, the term “reality” does not mean what it used to, and this is definitely shown by what claims to be reality television today. As some research found, “The term ‘reality’ has come to encompass virtually all unscripted series, those that follow the day-to-day activities of celebrities, and those that follow the day-to-day activities of ordinary people; those that purport to bring couples together, and those that strive to rip them apart; those that promise cash awards, and those that just offer the possibility of fame, however remote. These programs are, in fact, nothing more than producer-contrived scenarios, set up to cash-in on the conflict and sexual interaction captured by the ever-present cameras” (Reality TV Study). Again, the main purpose of reality shows is to entertain audiences, and it does not accurately reflect reality.

As entertaining as reality shows may be, they are not accurate representations of reality because their ultimate goal is to entertain. Nobody wants to watch a show about someone whose life is identical to theirs, and for this reason, the producers fabricate interesting situations. The producers create drama that they know will entice their viewers. The fundamental goal of reality TV is to make money, and to do so, reality shows cannot accurately represent reality. They must instead create drama to intrigue the viewers. Additionally, reality shows involve situations for entertainment and are therefore unlike those of the average person. In order to create a show that will last a whole season, the show must follow a typical plot line, and have a beginning, middle, end, also equipped with numerous climaxes. These climaxes usually occur at the end of an episode to captivate the audience to make them continue watching. In all actuality, reality TV does not accurately represent reality because there is too much planning that is involved in the making of the shows, and the situations that arise are too extreme to represent reality.


Works Cited

“Online News Hour Forum: Reality TV -- July 2000.” PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 30 Sept. 2011. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/july00/reality.html.

Piper, Helen. “Understanding Reality Television * Reality TV - Audiences and Popular Factual Television * Reality TV - Realism and Revelation.” Oxford Journals: Screen 47.1 (2006): 133-38. Print.

“Reality TV.” Oregon State University. Web. 30 Sept. 2011. http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/soc499/cordray/media/Realitytv.html.

“Reality TV Study Research on Sex, Profanity and Violence on TV - Harsh Reality: Unscripted TV Reality Shows Offensive to Families.” Parents Television Council - Because Our Children Are Watching. Web. 30 Sept. 2011. http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/realitytv/main.asp.

Rose, Randall L., and Stacy L. Wood. “Paradox and the Consumption of Authenticity through Reality Television.” Journal of Consumer Research 32.2 (2005): 284-96. Print.

“Unscripted Does Not Mean Unwritten.” Writers Guild of America, West. Web. 07 Oct. 2011. http://www.wga.org/organizesub.aspx?id=1096.

Ventre, Michael. “Just How Real Are Reality TV Shows? - Entertainment - Reality TV - TODAY.com.” TODAY.com: Matt Lauer, Ann Curry, Al Roker, Natalie Morales - TODAY Show Video, News, Recipes, Health, Pets. Web. 07 Oct. 2011. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30092600.

“Why Do We Tune In To Reality TV? - CBS News.” Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 30 Sept. 2011. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/17/health/webmd/main783814.shtml.


Image Citations:

http://www.jrhentertainment.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/TV_Guide_logo.219233920_large.png

http://assets.huluim.com/shows/key_art_the_bachelor.jpg">http://assets.huluim.com/shows/key_art_the_bachelor.jpg

http://img.freebase.com/api/trans/image_thumb/wikipedia/images/en_id/4375635?maxheight=510&mode=fit&maxwidth=510