22nd of April 2016
Globalization of information processes based on the latest technologies has changed many forms of human existence, but the biggest transformation has occurred in the structure and media system. The main source of information for most people have become electronic media and mainly - TV. All of them now propagate pop-culture. Popular culture has many scientific definitions. However, they all agree on one thing: pop-culture is a unity of widespread cultural elements in any society. Pop culture now includes music, film and animation, literature, the media (including comic books and the Internet), fashion, cooking, advertising, sports, tourism, and many other elements.
The latest genre created by pop culture, is the reality show. In 1992 a TV program The Real World was first aired. This show displays the life of seven people who live together in one house - cameras capture their every move and all shades of their relationship. Initially, the idea was considered a great achievement as it has created a new kind of documentary.
However, documentaries that depicted the lives of ordinary people, has long been on the screens. The life of a real American family has already been shown in An American Family in 1974. A documentary film about a family of Eskimos, who lived in the Far North, was shot in the era of the "silent film" in 1924. Fundamentally new in The Real World was the fact that the authors of this program have made a documentary about the completely fictional situation. The participants were not familiar with each other, and they would never have met if not for this show. Many of these programs are very stupid, but sometimes interesting do come the right way. Regardless of whether they are stupid or clever, most of these shows are sometimes funny!
Despite the seeming popularity, reality shows have lost a significant part of their rating. In order to marry, a man decided to go on a date with 30 women. A little plump girl from the American heartland tells about the everyday life of her family and intends to win a beauty show. Wealthy housewives from some town sort out their relationships. A group of girls under the guidance of a strict instructor and nervous mothers engage in dance and participate in competitions. None of these stories sounds too exciting. However, sometimes unsightly, but people have observed the development of these events over the years, trying not to miss the slightest detail (Luppicini 363). Over the past twenty years, reality TV has become a kind of drug, which is difficult to get off. The general policy is that if there is someone to watch TV, then there is a reality show to shoot. This is met even in the conservative Arab countries or Communist China (Luppicini 368).
Reality TV, as we know it, emerged largely due to the fact that the producers wanted to spend less and earn more. Certainly, even such programs require a financial investment, but they are not comparable with the budgets of sitcoms with the same ratings (Tran and Strutton 294). Often, it is not necessary neither to hire professional actors and good writers, nor to spend money on sets and costumes. Non-professional and novice artists, who, as it turned out at the dawn of the castings in the first program, are willing to work free. Moreover, if the stories are thought out, they usually follow the same primitive design (Luppicini 366).
Of course, the "reality" is not really reality. What viewers see, may be radically different from what was happening on the set. The editing department is capable of mounting a cunning story distorting the actions and intentions of the characters (Tran and Strutton 295). Usually there is no special script as in the sitcoms, but the showrunners think through the characteristics of each character, and inform the participant how they are expected to behave. The conflicts are set up, with constantly tossing firewood and then flaring up scandals among the participants. In addition to natural events turns often in the course of the storyboard - a rough sketch of how everything should be. Directors and screenwriters explain the team, how they should behave, and then turn the camera on and begin the show ((Tran and Strutton 301). The final and most effective weapon is editing. The final shoot can be cut and glued, so that phrases out of context are added to the story, which in reality did not happen.
Unfortunately, in this format to the surface come not the most innocuous techniques that the entire entertainment industry is filled with. If you look at a selection of the most popular Reality TV shows, it immediately becomes clear that the television channels are efficiently and at the same time not too subtly playing on our worst impulses. Envy, greed, gluttony, sloth, anger, pride and lust - the seven deadly sins are as if a manual on how to make a lucrative program. In pursuit of a bright show conflict often directors promote aggression, sometimes completely out of place. The viewer is invited to empathize the dramas and outrageous actions, and then looks at the participants sit in a circle and have a therapeutic talk about what happened.
The rapture with other people's problems is the scourge of reality television. In Here Comes Honey Boo Boo people see an example of an unhealthy lifestyle, but for some reason continue to watch it, hoping for new creepy details (Tran and Strutton 296). No-one limits himself with the facts about one’s diet. Our vocabulary has long instilled one phase in our consciousness "Take it off now" because of the discussion of the appearance of another person. The entertainment reality shows like The Weakest Link and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? reprogram the audience to think that only victory at all costs makes sense and defeat is offensive (Scarborough and McCoy 173). Today, however, the exploitation of greed on the background of the world crisis and sobering trends of sensible consumption slightly loses its power. However, America's Next Top Model has them but to a lesser extent.
The most popular with the public are always show that do not make you think, but only offer strangers squabbles and problems as entertainment. The main thing we should not forget in the maelstrom of unbelievable glamor events so unlike to our routine is that the product is fake (Banuelos 22). The participants of the reality show are constantly giving interviews, talking about the fact that in real life they would have never behave this way, and the producers and directors purposely show their misbehavior as it is demanded by the public.
The sense of belonging that a reality show consistently produces is based on the misleading belief that everything is "the truth." For many viewers the reality show is a dream come true of the path to glory which, it seems, now is not so hard to break through (Banuelos 24). The American Keeping Up with the Kardashians has made the children of Kardashian-Jenner, with Kim in the lead, a world's number one celebrity. The most common reproach to such TV is that it makes people famous, "just because they are famous", raising publicity or wealth in moral absolutes (Banuelos 16).
The same thing happened with Snooki, which at some point was not inferior in popularity to Kanye, simply because she was the star of Jersey Shore (Riddle and De Simone 238). Snooki, known for her frivolous lifestyle, earned for each episode more than any respected professor did in a year. Thousands of teenagers followed her behavior (Riddle and De Simone 243). Many critics have shown their disapproval of the show about a group of friends on vacation and their stupidity in praising consumerism, not to mention the director’s promotion of harmful stereotypes about Americans of Italian descent (Springer and Yelinek 102). Studies have shown that there was even a "Snooki effect", when many girls believe that lying and looks are the best means of achieving their desires (Springer and Yelinek 105).
Stereotypes and examples of "typical" behavior, caught up by the writers, at the output are converted into constants. For example, coined in response to Desperate Housewives the Reality TV show Real Housewives grew into its own universe, built on stereotypes, including a nod to the African-American community (Scarborough and McCoy 172). For seven seasons already its main “heroes” are responsible for the confirmation of all the ugly and unfounded ideas about "typical" African-American woman. Quick-tempered, loud and prone to all that is shining, they just begin to brawl and wave their arms with false nails in the spirit of “bitch, please”.
If everything is so bad, why do people still watch Reality TV shows? Reality shows have generated a term such as "Hate watching", that is, viewing something contrary to one’s principles. To put it simply, those who watched with conviction increased the ratings of the show (Scarborough and McCoy 177). However, it seems that the degenerate subjects and exploitation approach has gradually begun to annoy everyone. It looks like the pleasure in someone else's humiliation has finally ceased to be profitable (Luppicini 371). The audience has seen enough of distorted material, which year after year was displayed in endless shows about relationships, built on. A good example is the recent hit Duck Dynasty about the Robertson family from the province, whose ratings have collapsed because of the homophobic statements made by the main participants (Scarborough and McCoy 182).
As a result, Reality TV has suffered the same fate as all the other elements of pop culture. It was swallowed, chewed and spat out by the Internet with its unlimited freedom in the creation and distribution of content. Videoblogs are by far more popular in the rest of the world. Thus, more than a million subscribers follow the life of the heroes of the blog It's Judy's Life a beauty-blogger voluntarily showing her life.
If the passion of mankind to voyeurism is indestructible, it can at least be possible to create a show under the terms of those who themselves let us into their lives. We can only guess on the impartiality of videos that people upload on YouTube, but in their case the hero controls the entire process from beginning to end, and this approach looks at least honest. Reality TV is unlikely to disappear completely, yet they are based on everything that makes us human, including unpleasant things. However, in proportion to the evolution and development of mass consciousness, the Reality TV shows will have to change very quickly and quite dramatically.
All the time characteristics, which fit well into the concept of Reality TV, or rather reality show – are an indicator of a vector frame of mind and preferences of the modern society. Nevertheless, in spite of the popularity of the term in relation to all programs of this type is seen as a kind of stereotyped perception. It is no secret that the producers dictate consumers a projection of ideas, plots, and meaningful priorities television places on the mass distribution (Scarborough and McCoy). As a result, there is a dependence of the socio-cultural background information on the offers of producers and distributors of television. Given this, the broadcast can be evaluated in two categories on the Reality TV show: the inability of the founders to penetrate the creative essence of this type of program and / or as a result of the insolvency of creative producers of the product (Scarborough and McCoy).
Changes in society that occurred in the second half of the XX century, have substantially transformed the media and the audience. Essentially, we are talking about the qualitatively new characteristics due to economic development, cultural and educational systems, domestic and global processes (Scarborough and McCoy). Today, the audience is also a commodity within the market relations: the media and the advertiser. Television literally sells its audience, including the audience of a reality TV show.
The impetus to a detailed study of reality TV is, on the one hand, the unprecedented expanse of this TV genre throughout the world, as well as the prevailing for more than ten years stereotypical attitude to them both in the professional and social environment (Scarborough and McCoy). These stereotypes would have liked to be dispelled, as the production of this screen output is connected with a number of ambiguous factors affecting aspects of social and cultural development and intercultural communication (Scarborough and McCoy). On the other hand - a thorough analysis of reality TV shows allows us to formulate some theoretical principles of obvious advantages, the appearance of which on TV was far from accidental (Scarborough and McCoy).
Annotated bibliography
Problem being related and how does it relate to the research topic
Banuelos, Vanesa. Celebrity worship; reality TV and the pursuit of stardom. Dublin Business School Press. 2014. Print.
Luppicini, Rocci. Handbook of research on technoself identity in a technological society. Hershey, Pa: Information Science Reference, 2013. Print.
Luppicini describes the technical innovations and the place of the person within this development. He focuses on television as an indispensable part of our lives and the way it affects people, particularly Reality TV.
Riddle K. and J.J. De Simone. “A Snooki effect? An exploration of the surveillance subgenre of reality TV and viewers’ beliefs about the “real” real world.” Psychology of Popular Media Culture. Vol.2 (4). 2013. Print.
These scholars have conducted a study on the so-called Snooki effect of a little girl, who was the star of a Reality TV show and have described the way she behaved afterwards. This effect is close to the celebrity illness young starts tend to experience after having woken up famous. This is one of the negative effects Reality TV does to a personality.
Scarborough R. C. and Charles Allan McCoy. “Moral reactions to reality TV: Television viewers’ endogenous and exogenous loci of morality.” Journal of Consumer Culture. Vol.16 (1). 2016. Print.
These authors view the moral reactions of the society to Reality TV. It is important to understand the stereotypes and attitude the Reality TV has on the minds of the people today.
Springer Amy and Kathryn Yelinek. “Teaching with the situation Jersey Shore as a popular culture example in information literacy classes.” College & Research Libraries News. Vol.72 (2). 2011. Print.
The two scholars focus on one Reality TV, Jersey Shore, and describe how it has affected the society. Using the example of a single reality TV show we are able to see the effect it has on the personality and human development as a whole.
Tran Gina A. and David Strutton. “Has Reality Television Come of Age as a Promotional Platform? Modeling the Endorsement Effectiveness of Celebreality and Reality Stars.” Psychology & Marketing. Vol.31 (4). 2014. Print.
Tina and Strutton focus more on the marketing aspect Reality TV. This means that the people who are already famous, use such programs as a platform to sell themselves again. It is important to analyze how people use reality TV for their purposes.
Works Cited
Banuelos, Vanesa. Celebrity worship; reality TV and the pursuit of stardom. Dublin Business School Press. 2014. Print.
Luppicini, Rocci. Handbook of research on technoself identity in a technological society. Hershey, Pa: Information Science Reference, 2013. Print.
Riddle K. and J.J. De Simone. “A Snooki effect? An exploration of the surveillance subgenre of reality TV and viewers’ beliefs about the “real” real world.” Psychology of Popular Media Culture. Vol.2 (4). 2013. Print.
Scarborough R. C. and Charles Allan McCoy. “Moral reactions to reality TV: Television viewers’ endogenous and exogenous loci of morality.” Journal of Consumer Culture. Vol.16 (1). 2016. Print.
Springer Amy and Kathryn Yelinek. “Teaching with the situation Jersey Shore as a popular culture example in information literacy classes.” College & Research Libraries News. Vol.72 (2). 2011. Print.
Tran Gina A. and David Strutton. “Has Reality Television Come of Age as a Promotional Platform? Modeling the Endorsement Effectiveness of Celebreality and Reality Stars.” Psychology & Marketing. Vol.31 (4). 2014. Print.
