Response to
The Contestant by Daniel Alarcon is an essay taken from the book Best American Non Required Reading 2015. The essay explores the ugly face of media and their unscrupulous ways used to increase viewership without concern for human values and emotions. A reality show named El Valor de la Verdad became very popular in Peru. It was the Peruvian version of the American show Moment of Truth. The show gained immense popularity due to its unique rules and regulations. Participants were asked personal questions and the truthfulness of their answers was checked using polygraphs. Right answers earned the participants a lot of money. The author Alarcon uses one such participant namely Ruth Thalia to portray the negative impact of media on such people. Show host Beto Ortiz posed several personal questions to Ruth such as if she had sex for money, did she find her boyfriend handsome and so on. Ruth answered daringly in the affirmative, in front of her parents and her boyfriend Bryan who were present on the show. The reality show made Ruth immensely popular overnight. Her straight answers were a real embarrassment to her family members and Ruth herself. The television media hyped up Ruth’s life and her family and constantly stalked them for interviews and videos. One night, among all this hype, Ruth was killed by Bryan and buried in a well. The reality show had ransacked Ruth’s family due to which Ruth lost her life.
Alarcon uses the case of Ruth to explain to the readers about the negative impacts of media and the toll it takes. The television media has a huge impact on public mind, causing them to blindly believe in whatsoever is portrayed on television. The same was the case with Ruth. Her popularity led to false interpretations even to the extent of calling her a prostitute. Ruth’s family and near ones were constantly under surveillance by the media and they got intruded in their personal affairs. Even Ruth’s death was made a celebrated event in the hope of increasing viewership. This attitude was developed by several competing channels, vying with one another to gain viewership, disregarding respectfulness and privacy of people. The author uses Beto to argue that the media was not responsible for Ruth’s state, but her own self. Rivalry between television channels and their tendency to trample one another to gain viewership can also be seen in such incidents. The author tries to convey the insignificance of human lives and emotions, in the face of television media.
Ruth belonged to a poor family, one which tried to make both ends meet. Alarcon also tries to elucidate on the lives of such poor people who do not have much of a say in the society. They are trampled upon and treated as mere commodities to suffice the other classes. Ruth’s family struggled greatly to file complaints and gain importance in the eye of the law but to no avail. They were finally considered by a competing television channel to provide lawful support and investigation which led to the arrest of Bryan. The reality show had wrecked Ruth’s life but they claimed no responsibility for it. Ruth’s life was shattered and her family members faced utmost embarrassment in the society. They were all paying a heavy price for Ruth’s prize money which even claimed her life. Rigid regulations must be imposed on television channels who take the liberty of intruding into personal lives.
Work Cited
Alarcon, Daniel. Best American Non Required Reading: The Contestant. California: Mariner
Books, 2015. Print.
