Introduction/Thesis
Reality TV shows are a common staple everywhere today. We have programs that are usually in the competition format, and supposedly the spiels are largely unscripted, in order to elicit the real reactions and spontaneous behavior of the contestants. The participants are drawn into situations they would not have participated in on their own. There is often a host who asks the questions, makes comments on those participating in the show, or who somehow moderates the competition. There are those who are in favor of this genre, as it oftentimes brings people in new situations and engages the audience to acknowledge the same. For instance, in the show Arab World in 2003, male and female contestants live together (Krady, 98). In the Chinese singing contest Super Girl, the media was quick to point out that female power was a potent force for democracy, and soon the Chinese government banned it for its supposed orientation towards being vulgar and very materialistic (Li and Lee, 256-272). There are those who are not in favor of this genre, as they say that it puts its participants in a brand new situation, and wherein they often find it difficult, such that their behavior is altered, oftentimes for the negative.
It is therefore the thesis of this short paper that reality TV show producers must take full responsibility for the behavior of their participants during and after the duration of the show. If the participants tend to exhibit negative behaviors that impact on their wellness both physical and mentally, the producers must step in before these participants engage in activities that would be detrimental to their health. These negative behaviors not only impact their families and acquaintances, but also the reputation of the show.
Behaviors of Reality TV Show Participants
Cheryl Kosewicz, a district attorney assigned in Reno, Nevada, became one of the participants in the reality show Pirate Masters. The show was created in 2007 by the same creator of the more famous reality show “Survivor”, Mark Burnett. The show is essentially a treasure hunt based on the story of an old pirate who used to ply the Caribbean. Kosewicz had been the fourth contestant to be eliminated from the show during the season, and was found dead due to an apparent suicide in her home in Reno. Her participation in the show was said to cause friction between her and her boyfriend Ryan O’Neill, who then took his own life two months prior to Kosewicz’ own death. The death of her boyfriend and her subsequent elimination from the show were said to have caused Kosewicz to take her own life (News.com.au: Cheryl Kosewicz, Pirate Master Hopeful, Takes her own Life).
Another famous case is that of the murder of Scott Amedure. In 1995, while guesting on The Jenny Jones Show, Amedure revealed that he had feelings for his acquaintance, Jonathan Schmitz, who lived near Amedure. After the revelation, Amedure allegedly left a note for Schmitz at his home. Schmitz then withdrew money from his personal account, purchased a shotgun, and shot Amedure in his mobile home on March 9, 1995. The family of Amedure then sued the producers of The Jenny Jones Show, Telepictures and Warner Brothers, for negligence and his wrongful death. The Michigan Supreme Court, however, refused to hear the case. Schmitz, despite his struggles with mental illness, was convicted (Jennings, 388).
Analysis
In the case of Kosewicz, the producers of the show could have seen that there may be trouble on her part because she was clearly suffering trauma and depression after the death of her boyfriend. To ask her to continue to participate in the competition may have added to the pain and suffering she already felt due to the death of her fiancée. To have axed her from the competition when she was already in this fragile mental state was not a good move on the part of the production team. It may have been better to have simply asked Kosewicz to voluntarily give up her slot on the program owing to the trauma she was already experiencing at the time. There were telltale signs as Kosewicz had written in a blog of her friend that she was no longer her old and strong self, and that she was indeed in pain. There was some form of negligence on the part of the producers of the show, and they failed to see that she was in a troubled state. One could say that her being terminated from the show only added to her misfortune, perhaps driving her to take her own life in the end.
For Amedure, the producers of the show may have had intentions to humiliate Schmitz by surprising him with the live admission of Amedure. The producers should have done their research in order to find out that Schmitz had been suffering from mental illness for the greater part of his life, and thus it was clearly not wise for Amedure to make public his admiration and feelings of love for Schmitz, knowing that this knowledge may trigger troubling thoughts in Schmitz, which lead to him shooting Amedure. Again, there was some level of negligence on the part of the show’s producers in this case.
Experts say that while the participants in the show are not employees of the show, there are certain relationships between the producers and the participants that require the producers to take some responsibility for the actions of the participants. For the case of Schmitz and Amedure, the producers of the show should have known that Amedure’s public declaration of admiration for Schmitz would have triggered ill feelings in the latter, which in turn may have driven him to do things that would be regrettable later. The same is true for the case of Kosewicz, where the knowledge of the act of axing her from the show may have driven her to a truly regrettable act despite the recent event of her boyfriend’s suicide. After reflection, there is the insight that these reality TV shows do profit so much out of what experiences and personalities are presented on screen. In fact, the situation of “cashing in” on secrets that are revealed in the show, and the knowledge of certain events may be part of the overall strategies of the production teams of these shows in order to have increased ratings, and in turn, this translates into more sponsors and more income for the show and its producers. This all translates to the need for producers to assume more responsibility for the mental health and state of mind of their participants in their shows. After all, it is the show and its producers that place these participants in these precarious and very delicate situations indeed.
Conclusion
Producers of reality TV shows cannot simply operate on the premise of doing all sorts of things in order to gain ratings and income. They cannot be in the habit of inflicting emotional stress (or distress) on the participants on their shows in order for more people to watch their shows and become their “loyal” and avid followers. The fact that these producers clearly take advantage of the situation of the people involved, and even subject them to stressful situations – many of these situations “firsts” for these individuals, means that they have responsibilities when it comes to watching out for the mental health and states of mind of these participants and guests in their shows. What happened to Scott Amedure and Cheryl Kosewicz and to many other participants in similar reality TV shows should not happen to current and future participants. The producers must first determine if these people are able to endure the more stressful situations that they will find themselves in these shows. They must also closely monitor the mental state of these participants not only during the show, but also after the show. Their support must always be for their participants, rather than focusing on what stressful situations to create or influence in order for more viewers to watch their shows. The fact that it is the show and the producers who place these participants in “risky” and stressful means that there exists a special relationship between the participant and the show. The show through its producers then should exert all efforts to ensure that the participants are mentally prepared and tough enough to handle the difficult situations and experiences that are thrown their way. The producers therefore must exert efforts and assume responsibility for their participants and their behaviors during and after their stints with the shows.
Works Cited
Jennings, Marianne. Business: Its Legal, Ethical and Global Environment. 2005. Eagan, MN: Thomson West.
Krady, Marwan. Reality Television and Arab Politics. 2009. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Li, Cui and Lee, Francis. Becoming Extra Ordinary: Negotiation of Media Power in the Case of Super Girls’ Voice in China. Popular Communication 8, 256-272).
News.com.au. Cheryl Kosewicz, Pirate Master Hopeful, Takes her own Life. 2007. Web.
