How real is reality TV?
Reality TV has become a popular genre throughout the 21st century. It supposedly includes the lives of real people throughout the real world, and how they react in certain situations. It also involves finding regular people and putting them through competitions to see who will win and have the potential to become famous in a certain field. Reality TV today draws people in with a dramatic, yet entertaining script which claims to be authentic but turns out to be heavily scripted. Orbe (2008) explains that reality TV is broadly described as putting normal everyday people in front of a camera and gaining entertainment from their ‘unscripted’ actions. It is also described as a genre that wants its viewers to think of the people involved as non-fiction rather than as ‘actors’.
Is reality TV really as authentic as it claims to be? This question is asked frequently by many of the individuals who participate in watching it. The answer, although disappointing, is no. Most of the reality TV shows that are watched today consist of a structured story and scripted dialogue. According to Orbe (2008), one of the most popular categories of reality TV are competition shows. Examples of these include American Idol, Ink Master, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Love Island, Big Brother, and even Fear Factor. During these shows, contestants arrive and they are put through challenging tasks in order to win money. A money prize seems to stand out as the most popular reward. In an article written by Gavilanes (2018), many people in the television industry came out with personal stories on what actually happens behind the scenes of reality TV. One individual explained that on many popular singing shows, producers often ‘beg’ contestants for sob stories and the first auditions we see are always never actually the first auditions. Producers carefully handpick contestants and put them through many interviews and auditions, a lot of the time they do not pay attention to the actual singing (Gavilanes, 2018).
Reality TV has a big following with a diverse range of audience members, but what is the fascination with watching series that we know are scripted. Reiss and Wiltz (2014), explain that there are “16 intrinsic feelings or joys” that measure the fundamental desires of an individual. Reiss and Wiltz (2014) found that reality TV arouses a combination of these feelings and joys which explains the attraction that normal people have to reality entertainment.
References
Gavilanes, G. (2018, August 7). ‘They Beg You for Sob Stories’: 10 People Reveal What Actually Goes Into Filming a Reality TV Show. People. https://people.com/tv/people-talk-filming-reality-tv-show/
Orbe, M. P. (2008). Representations of race in reality TV: Watch and discuss. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 25(4), 345-352.Reiss, S., & Wiltz, J. (2004). Why people watch reality TV. Media psychology, 6(4), 363-378.
Reiss, S., & Wiltz, J. (2004). Why people watch reality TV. Media psychology, 6(4), 363-378.
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