- Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?
According to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary the definition of “Genre” is:
1: a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or contenta classic of the gothic novel genre
3: painting that depicts scenes or events from everyday life usually realistically
Source: Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genre
Reality TV is a genre however with the rise of Reality TV genre in the 90’s as an entertainment phenomenon it has become inclusive of many hybrid reality programmes that have come in and out of fashion as viewer tastes have moved on. Because priority programming undergoes constant changes as a quick fix to keep ratings and viewership high, answering this question is not easy.
Woods (2004) states to appreciate the complexity of hybridization, analysis needs to consider both a broad historical frame and a wide range of television content. Analyzing the new forms of Reality TV calls on the one hand for a historical perspective on the aesthetics and rhetoric of Reality TV, its forms and genres and their relationship to the fundamental documentary genres. On the other hand, it calls for a closer look at the context of these genres and their function in a new global and increasingly digitized media culture, where fundamental changes in the mediation of everyday life and the transformation of the public sphere are obvious.
Hybridity is not all of one piece and the blurring of once-demarcated content modes is an outstanding feature of contemporary New Zealand television (Woods, 2004). According to Woods, television can be divided into four modes – fact, fiction, entertainment and advertising. Each of these four modes produces reality in a distinctive way. Factual programming represents the state of affairs in the natural world such as the news, current affairs, documentaries, practical advice shows and religious broadcasts. Fictional programming conveys the sense of a world that is imaginatively constructed such as drama, feature film and some forms of comedy. Entertainment conveys a theatrical sense of reality as performance in game shows, musical acts, talk shows, variety programmes, broadcast sport and some forms of comedy. Advertisements refers to a commodity that exists and aims to increase the circulation of that commodity. These commercials, however, ‘are not “about” products, but are images of desire and pleasure that overwhelm the product they are attached to.
Reality TV and their hybrids can fit into all 4 modes or combination of modes which is where the blurring occurs. Woods explains that hybridity is often treated not just as a complex of conventional modes but also as simple in its complexity. Therefore, I believe at present Reality TV is still a genre however this will change in the future.
REFERENCES
Wood, B. (2004) A World in Retreat: The Reconfiguration of Hybridity in 20th-Century New Zealand Television. Media Culture Society. http://doi.org/10.1177/0163443704039709
Pop Genres 2020 