Someone Was Hired, But I Still Don't Care
Apparently last night was the culmination of the latest season of The Donald Trump Show, although I didn't see it. I know I'm still stranded on Planet Me on this issue, but Reality TV remains one of those cultural phenomenon that try as I might, I just don't get. For years I've been awaiting the backlash against these exercises in greed, shmaltz, phoniness and public humiliation, but the backlash never comes.
I'm still not sure where the appeal of these shows comes from. I mean, I live in reality, okay? I can't help but wonder why I or anyone else should care to watch an artificial version of it on TV (I know I'm the millionth person to point this out, but there's nothing "real" about any of these shows--they're all more contrived than the worst episode of Dallas ever dreamed of being).
Is it some sort of strange wish fulfillment perhaps? A throwback to that quintessential American fantasy that if only the right big-time producer were to catch a glimpse of you in the right light at the corner drugstore then you, too, could be a star? Perhaps that's part of it, but if that were the case, if it were all just about a vicarious experience of instant fame, then why would humiliation and ridicule be such an integral part of these shows?
Perhaps it's in the cruelty where lies the magic. I often ask this of friends of mine who follow these programs and call contestants by their first names, as if they were real friends. Do they watch hoping to see the bitchy girl get her comeuppance on The Bachelor, or perhaps the a-hole on The Apprentice get fired in front of millions of people? I'm sure this is a part of it too, but as these friends never fail to point out, some of the new and most popular reality shows have lurched to the complete opposite end of the spectrum--Extreme Makeover Home Edition is always the first to get mentioned. Rather than rewarding greed, villainy and scandal, and without the prurient appeal of some of the bottom-of-the-barrel Fox shows (though I can't remember any of their names, I do remember that they always, always, ALWAYS managed to work in a hot tub somehow), this new breed of "Rescue" Reality show trades on shmaltz, pathos and melodrama. It's not any more entertaining in my mind, but at least it isn't cruel and I suppose that's something.
Do people find these shows somehow more 'genuine' than scripted programming? Maybe people see it this way, but this notion is certifiably false. No one ever acts the same way when a camera is on them as when it isn't. Everyone on these shows is angling for screen time, playing out roles, emoting, trying way too hard to be the center of attention, and the result is a perfect media-illustration of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle; you can't observe something without changing the thing you're observing.
So I'm serious, what's the appeal? I'm not trying to argue with people who like these shows, I'm just genuinely curious. Why would you want to watch American Idol over brilliant satire like The Simpsons, or a great comedy like Arrested Development, or entertaining (if extremely far fetched) drama like 24 or one of the 400 Law and Order spin-offs on at least 9 cable channels at all hours of the day? I really want to know.
I'm still not sure where the appeal of these shows comes from. I mean, I live in reality, okay? I can't help but wonder why I or anyone else should care to watch an artificial version of it on TV (I know I'm the millionth person to point this out, but there's nothing "real" about any of these shows--they're all more contrived than the worst episode of Dallas ever dreamed of being).
Is it some sort of strange wish fulfillment perhaps? A throwback to that quintessential American fantasy that if only the right big-time producer were to catch a glimpse of you in the right light at the corner drugstore then you, too, could be a star? Perhaps that's part of it, but if that were the case, if it were all just about a vicarious experience of instant fame, then why would humiliation and ridicule be such an integral part of these shows?
Perhaps it's in the cruelty where lies the magic. I often ask this of friends of mine who follow these programs and call contestants by their first names, as if they were real friends. Do they watch hoping to see the bitchy girl get her comeuppance on The Bachelor, or perhaps the a-hole on The Apprentice get fired in front of millions of people? I'm sure this is a part of it too, but as these friends never fail to point out, some of the new and most popular reality shows have lurched to the complete opposite end of the spectrum--Extreme Makeover Home Edition is always the first to get mentioned. Rather than rewarding greed, villainy and scandal, and without the prurient appeal of some of the bottom-of-the-barrel Fox shows (though I can't remember any of their names, I do remember that they always, always, ALWAYS managed to work in a hot tub somehow), this new breed of "Rescue" Reality show trades on shmaltz, pathos and melodrama. It's not any more entertaining in my mind, but at least it isn't cruel and I suppose that's something.
Do people find these shows somehow more 'genuine' than scripted programming? Maybe people see it this way, but this notion is certifiably false. No one ever acts the same way when a camera is on them as when it isn't. Everyone on these shows is angling for screen time, playing out roles, emoting, trying way too hard to be the center of attention, and the result is a perfect media-illustration of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle; you can't observe something without changing the thing you're observing.
So I'm serious, what's the appeal? I'm not trying to argue with people who like these shows, I'm just genuinely curious. Why would you want to watch American Idol over brilliant satire like The Simpsons, or a great comedy like Arrested Development, or entertaining (if extremely far fetched) drama like 24 or one of the 400 Law and Order spin-offs on at least 9 cable channels at all hours of the day? I really want to know.
posted by Yukon Sully | 4:30 PM
3 Comments:
Yeah, I think much of the appeal comes from the thought "hey, that could be me, and I'd probably do better than these guys they picked." I don't know why it doesn't appeal to me like it does to most people.
No matter how contrived and scripted these "reality" shows are, you have to admit, they are more real than having perfectly made-up stars in a far away hollywood reading lines that came from another person's head. Though they are less believeable at times...that is only because we have only been exposed to the artificial world of hollywood all our lives.
You mentioned the Heisenberg Principle. Well, take it a bit further. Aren't we all being observed? If that is true, then nothing you have ever witnessed is genuine because you are observing. Everyone on this earth is "playing out roles, emoting," and "trying way to hard to be the center of attention." Think of how many times you have done it. How many times have you put on a mask to portray to the world a face different than your own?
Another reason why these shows (especially the ones focusing on greed, villainy and scandal) are so popular is that they are promoting the most popular view of morality: relative morality. They essentially say that it's okay to be this way because everyone else is doing it.
I think the American lottery mentality is related to the fasination with all things Trump. The fact is he is the worst example of capitalism. Where else can someone come off as sucessful after after a string of failed ventures and a bankruptcy?
And for the Simpson's trivia buff... Matt Groening grew up in my hometown of Portland, OR. The keen observer can find many, many references to local landmarks, personalities and news items in the show. My favorite episode shows a parody of Virginia City with many references to Julia Bullette. After the staged gunfight on the street, Grandpa drinks a bunch of sarsparilla and his kidneys explode.
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