Week 12 Questions – Reality TV

Week 12 Question

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

Reality television is an ever-expanding media giant. Though it may have started as a simple genre, as it has risen and fallen, the genre has expanded to create hybrids, mixing together aspects of both its genre and other genres that had already existed on television. Holmes (2004) states that “The combination of forms that are themselves already generic hybrids emphasizes the complex matter of defining ‘reality TV”. Some examples of these types of reality shows would be cooking shows, cop shows and makeover shows. I am going to discuss cop shows in more detail as one prime example of this, then I will conclude with my final thoughts.

Shows such as ‘COPS’ or ‘Police 10-7’ are part of the crime/emergency sub-genre of reality television that has been popular and prominent since the 1980s. A big reason for this is the subject matter, the adrenaline rush and even the violence itself. As Biressi and Nunn (2005) say on the reasoning, “The vicarious pleasures of witnessing crime, disaster and other life-threatening occurrences that are sanctioned by the moral discourses of criminal justice”. These shows have been made for three primary reasons. The first reason is to improve the reputation of law enforcement. The second reason has to do with how the police are ‘inspirational’. The third reason is that it encourages people to help the police in cases. The final reason is surveillance. In crime television, the viewer is given access to surveillance footage. Of course, before these shows came around, police shows were still on television. There were documenteries around the police departments, as well as soaps involving the police department, such as ‘Chips’. Reality television has never been defined as being a reflection of reality, only that it involved ‘real’ people. In the case of reality cop shows, the cops presented on screen are professional cops, doing their jobs, although the show may glorify their jobs for reasons explained above.

So, can reality television still be thought of as a genre. In short, I believe that reality television can be considered a genre, even with the levels of hybridity. Though there are countless sub-genres and hybridity within the genre, there are still common threads that link these genres together. First off, all of them involve ‘real’ people. Whether it is a show based around celebrities such as ‘The Anna Nicole Show’ or members of public, in shows such as ‘Survivor’ or ‘Big Brother’, the people within the shows are not fictional. They are real celebrities, and real members of the public. Another common thread would be hosts of some description, whether it’s a judge on a cooking show, Jeff Probst from ‘Survivor’ or even someone like Andy Cohen, the producer and unofficial host of the ‘Real Housewives’ franchise. Though there are differences, there are enough common traits between most shows that makes reality television still deserving of its title.

References

Holmes, S, Jermyn, D (2004) Understanding Reality Television. Routledge.

Mapp, C (2014) Reality Television: Oddities of Culture. Lexington Books

Vox (2019 May 2^nd) The truth behind the TV show ‘Cops’ [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTQTcfk5Bmw

Week 12: Brendan O’Neill

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

The massive amount of hybridity that currently exists within reality tv makes it very difficult to define as a genre, bringing the question of whether reality tv can even still be considered a genre.

The definition of reality tv according to Oxford dictionary are “Television programmes in which ordinary people are continuously filmed, designed to be entertaining rather than informative.” Immediately this is very broad, if the only requirement for a show to be considered reality tv is that it is designed as entertainment, then that would incorporate a massive amount of media.

The problem however, is that many of the hybrid and niche shows do not fit into any other genre asides from reality tv. According to Wood (2004) the sense of realism that reality tv makes as a defining genre trait is also shared by most if not all media in one form or another, and although this is true, the issue is that this is not a problem that is exclusive to reality tv.

There are a number of examples when it comes to genres that have highly specific but popular sub genres. Genres like crime and fantasy have giant lists of sub genres some you can likely name off the top of your head, while broad genres like comedy and drama are often crossed with other genres which results in new ones.

As the broad appeal of reality tv increases, so will the issues of hybridity, especially as new niche concepts are brought into the genre, rather than rejecting reality tv’s status as a genre, perhaps it should be accepted that it has the potential to be a broad and large spread genre like fantasy or drama. The answer is that yes, reality tv can still be a genre.

Wood, B. (2004). A World in Retreat: The Reconfiguration of Hybridity in 20th-Century New Zealand Television. Media, Culture & Society, 45-62.

Oxford English Dictionary, (1884). Oxford

Week 12: Reality TV by Rachel Banks

Q1. Can reality TV still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

Since the conception of Reality Television it has morphed into multiple hybrids and sub-genres. Whereby the original concept of Reality TV was documentary style journalistic content it has become a genre in its own right and still deserves recognition as a genre. Reality TV is essentially unscripted content that is woven together to form a narrative. From its beginnings documenting “The Real World” on MTV, where a group of single adolescents shared a house with cameras filming their every encounter, it has transitioned into multiple sub-genres and hybrids.

Now Reality Television encompasses talent shows, cooking shows, following fringe jobs, romance, game shows, house renovations, docu- drama, lifestyle shows and more. While the multiple variations of Reality Television would suggest hybridization the audience has come to understand and expect certain aspects that are unique to the Reality Genre. We expect either complete strangers chosen at random to be put through their paces for a prize, or people searching for love jumping through metaphorical hoops to secure the heart of the prize bachelor or bachelorette. We expect to be able to vote in talent shows which are based on personal likeability as much as talent. We expect to see people fight it out and strategize to survive the odds of game shows such as “Survivor” or “The Block”. We know we’re going to see unobtainable wealth, luxury, and conflict when we watch the “Real Housewives” franchise or “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” We imagine that our favourite recipe could compete on one of the reality cooking shows. We imagine that a friend or loved one may one day give us a “Surprise Makeover.” It’s these little hopes that keep us watching. We want to see how the other half live, even if it is mostly contrived.

Reality Television now is as well-known as a format as Drama or Documentary. There are multiple hybrids of these genres too. There are Romantic Comedies, Tragedy Drama, Psychological thriller drama, Medical drama, Crime Drama etc. Reality Television has created its own Genre and as creators keep coming up with new ways to create hybrids and subgenres it will still be relevant for years to come.

References
Biressi, A. & Nunn, N. (2005). Real Lives, documentary approaches. In
Reality TV: realism and revelation. (pp. 35-58) London: Wallflower.

Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television.(pp. 14 – 40). Oxon: Routledge.

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

Considering the demand for reality television, and the raging elements it showcases such as comedy, documentary and theatre- the hybridisation is a given. It is also something that viewers have seen a demand in judging from the past decades. According to Hill, 2005, it is eminently difficult to categorise reality TV as a singular genre due to the increasing amount of hybridity it holds.

Reality TV is igh intertextual, making a wide range of references in order to keep the viewers engaged. Wood (2004) highlights how individuals often view the hybridity of television as a corresponding genre. This doesn’t mean that reality TV is not a standing genre of its own but rather an incorporation of many other genres. Furthermore, reality Tv is quite open ended and its hybridity is quite abstract Woods would agree as he states in page 48 ““the increased frequency of hybridized expression such attempts at generic identification are understandable, but they have not proved successful” (Wood, 2004, p. 48).

My stance is that reality Tv should be considered as a genre on it own as it has really evolved into what it is now, due to the different elements and intertextual elements it has incorporated, from the different mediums and genres over the years. The quality of reality Tv is not invalidated due to the hybridization of the genre. In fact, it improves everyday because of the ever growing popularity it brings.

References

Hill, A. (2014). Reality tv. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Smith, P (lec). (2020). Reality television part 2 [Lecture PowerPoint].

Week 12

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

While the text talks states “divides reality TV into everyday dramas of
courage, talk about feelings and civic action” (Wood, 2004) they state the problem with the dividing of the genre is that it doesn’t distinguish with the hybridization among other television category’s. Hybridization is prevalent in many forms of television other than reality tv even given the high level of hybridization in reality tv it brings a unifying genre to the other wise divided category. “reality TV has proved difficult to define…many interpreters pose hybridity as if it were an
undifferentiated category”(Wood, 2004) It goes on to state that Hybridization as a hole has been treated as simple and not complex.

Hybridization has been on the rise it was lackluster in the 70s but has been on the rise ever since and has taken over fiction as of late i feel that Hybridity should become its own genre rather than take away reality tv, reality tv has its place as a genre that has plenty of room within its subgenres for hybriditity maybe the name should be changed from reality tv as reality tv “Kilborn (1994: 423) defines reality TV as ‘a hybrid mix of presenter talk, v´erit´e material, dramatic reconstruction and various forms of audience participation’.”(Wood, 2004) Which in my mind feels more like fiction than reality.

References:

Wood, B. (2004). A World in Retreat: The Reconfiguration of Hybridity in 20th-Century New Zealand Television. Media, Culture & Society, 26(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443704039709

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Week 12: Anastasia Shearer

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

Genre hybridity is the combination of two or more genres. For example, the film ‘Back to the Future 3’ combines the genre of science fiction with the western genre (Oxford Reference, n.d.). We have seen genre hybridity many times in the film industry with having romantic comedies and spoof horrors. Reality television is no different and has come up with many hybrids such as docusoaps, docudramas and docu-soap surveillance (Smith, 2020).

Over the many years that television has been in existence each genre has come further away from the rooted rigidness that once defined them. To put it in simpler words, all genres are at some level hybrid and what was once categorised has been interlaced (Wood, 2004). Woods (2004) wanted to study the hybridity of reality TV and began by dividing television four ways; fact, fiction, entertainment and advertising. Each way can and has created reality in their own way.

Fact, meaning factual programming refers to programmes such as “the news, current affairs, documentaries, practical advice shows and religious broadcasts” (Woods, 2004, p.47). These programmes focus on broadcasting evidence based national and international current affairs rather than opening the floor to interpretation (Woods, 2004).

Fiction, is exactly as it sounds like. These programmes often offer “television shows, drama, feature film, and some forms of comedy” (Woods, 2004, p.47). The characters and events that are in these sources of entertainment don’t exist in our world and only make sense in their own imaginary one.

Entertainment, show people who exist in and outside the source of entertainment. These people act how they usually would within the set of entertainment. Gaming shows, musical acts, talk shows, variety programmes, broadcast sport, and some forms of comedy (probably live comedy), are the entertainment side of television. Its reality but with a theatrical spin on it (Woods, 2004).

Lastly, advertising which is used to sell materialistic products in under 60 seconds. Every advertisement is designed to offer something that could live within your home and outside the television world. Advertisements shift reality and they redefine how our life would like with this product (Woods, 2004).

These four ways are further split and combined with other genres. Wood (2004) calls them reenactment, diversion, absorption and infomercial.

Absorption introduces the combination of reality and situational reconstruction. These reality tv shows include but aren’t limited to shows about law enforcement, medical and emergency services, dangerous stunt shows, natural disasters and the supernatural. The premise of this combination of fact and fiction is to present factual situations that have been reenacted to create more excitement and the lines blur between what is fact and what is fiction (Wood, 2004).

Infomercials are like advertisements except much longer. They will have people demonstrate and make testimonials around the product and why you should buy it. Infomercials combine advertisement with fact (Wood, 2004).

Diversions are people who are being themselves whilst in a seemingly normal setting. It combines entertainment and fact, for example, home video compilations, behind-the-scenes content and bloopers.

Lastly, re-enactments are films that are based on real people or real life events that use techniques often reserved for fictional pieces. The lines between reality and fiction blur as this hybrid takes creative liberties in constructing a narrative (Wood, 2004).

As shown above hybrids between genres is already bountiful in the entertainment industry. By showing how reality tv has hybrids between fictions, fact, entertainment and advertisement as well as divulging deeper into how modern day reality tv has developed through infomercials, absorption, re-enactment and diversion. It has only gone to further understand how genres and rigid categories are a system of the past and that maybe genres need to be expanded to encapsulate all the new types of entertainment being created.

References

New Zealand Television. Media, Culture & Society, 45-62.Oxford Reference. (n.d.). Hybrid genre. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20111108103413377

Wood, B. (2004). A World in Retreat: The Reconfiguration of Hybridity in 20th-Century

Week 12 response – Leo Ballantyne

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

According to Wood (2004) defining reality television as a genre is relatively unhelpful in a critical context due to the inherent tendency of all media content to attempt to “produce worldliness” and a “sense of real”. Especially in an age of increasing hybridity where televised media embrace both elements of the real and fictional, Wood suggests that this categorization is too reductive for the interplay that occurs between the various media types. Smith (2013) presents a similar sentiment, claiming that generalised criticisms of the genre ignore the vast variance that exists in both type and quality, which act to fill the needs of many different audience demographics. Wood communicates this notion of diversity and complexity by first identifying four traditional modes of television. This both showcases the pre-existing interplay between reality and fiction that exists in all television, as well as establish a typology which can better identify hybrid types which have developed out of these initial modes. Wood then outlines four major hybrid hinges which feature interplay and layering of these previously described modes, supporting his claim that the complexity and range of these interactions makes categorizing reality television as a genre relatively obsolete.

The four television modes Wood (2004) identifies are that of Fact, Fiction, Entertainment and Advertisement, all of which feature different methods to construct a reality. Fact refers to programming which claims to cover objective truths regarding the world outside the text. This mode is dominated by News Journalism and documentaries, however practical advice and smaller genres also operate within this category. Fiction, while making no attempt to faithfully replicate the external world, constructs a form of internalised world and attempts to assure the audience of this internal world’s reality. This mode encompasses film and television fiction. Entertainment is a mode of television where characters who exist both in the text and the external world are depicted, where they are expected to act as themselves while participating in various forms of spectacle. These characters being an extension of their external personas informs an implicit link between text and reality, and this feature is most common in genres such as Game shows, talk shows and sport, among others. Finally, Advertisements refer to commodities that exist, with advertisers using fictional/narrative elements to construct products as artificially desirable for the sake of increased sales. While advertising is usually a form unto itself, it can also appear within other genres such as via product placement within fictional television and film. Already, through this typography, Wood (2004) showcases the vast diversity that exists within reality television, already problematizing the use of reality tv as a genre. Problematizing this issue further is the forms of hybridity which have started manifesting themselves between these modes, which both increases the pre-existing diversity within the ‘genre’ and blurs lines between the fictitious and real.

Four major hinges or methods by which these previously stated modes are combined are Re-enactment, Diversion, Absorption and Infomercial. These all vary based on the modes that intermingle and how this remixing is achieved. Re-enactment is described as the reconstruction of real or external events using fictional techniques. Here the boundaries between reality and fiction are blurred due to the text’s preferentiality to the external world beyond the text, in contrast with the fundamental construction of the text as a work of fiction. Wood (2004) suggests that re-enactments often come with an implicit understanding that creative liberties have been taken in service of the narrative, demonstrating that this hinge is a less manipulative version of the hybridisation between fiction and fact. Diversion is a hybridization of Entertainment and fact, where people who are supposedly genuinely themselves – operating outside of designed spectacle – are depicted in generally mundane settings. Spectacle can occur in diversion, but it isn’t the intended purpose of the text to facilitate or cause this spectacle. Common versions of Diversion are blooper reels, behind-the-scenes documentaries or home video compilations. Diversion is a text type which emphases the mundane in the extraordinary and emphasises the extraordinary in the Mundane. As Langer (1998) suggests, there is a dimension of fictionality in such texts as well, where choices are made to artificially heighten this desired sense of mundane or extraordinary, and acting to characterise how both of these qualities are defined in society. Far more common in recent years is the two latter hybrid hinges of Absorption and Infomercial. In Absorption, vérité scenes and information are unpacked and recontextualised via a multitude of smaller dramatic recreations, editing techniques and the additions of a commentator. This is commonplace in certain subgenres of reality TV such as crime or medical shows, in game shows as well as more partisan news or infotainment organisations. Although the core material discussed by these texts are ostensibly real, the means in which such material is packaged can completely alter how the audience reads this information, and is capable of constructing very elaborate and contrived narratives from these readings, making Absorption sit at the crossroads of Fiction, fact and entertainment. Lastly, Infomercial is the practice of ‘program length commercials’, which are designed to sell a product through testimonials, re-enactments and demonstrations. Such texts are manipulative due to their layering of modes, namely fact and advertising, presenting themselves disingenuously as “quasi-news programmes or investigative consumer reports” in order to sell a product (Wood, 2004). As described, these hinges feature a complex interplay between various modes, especially that of fact, which can often be co-opted in order to smuggle in less verifiable truths or outright falsifications. The demonstrated hybridity that exists between these modes showcases a sophisticated relationship between reality television and many other forms of text where one cannot be as easily separated from the other.

By outlining the already complex primary modes of televisions, and then detailing how transgressions between these modes occur via hybrid hinges and their ability to obfuscate the boundaries between reality and fictional media, Wood (2004) underscores the fundamental impossibility of categorizing media using a binary which differentiates between real and artificial. This discussion compellingly conveys the increasing irrelevance of reality tv as a categorical tool and the need to develop a framework which better encompasses the diversity and complexity of television content.

Wood, B. (2004). A World in Retreat: The Reconfiguration of Hybridity in 20th-Century New Zealand Television. Media, Culture & Society, 45-62.

Smith, P. (2013). Heroic endeavours: flying high in New Zealand reality television. In N. Lorenzo-Dus, & P. Garces-Conejos Blitvich, Real Talk: Reality Television and Discourse Analysis in Action (pp. 140-165). Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Langer, J. (1998). Tabloid Television. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203135211

WEEK 12 REALITY TV

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

2: KIND, SORT

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 20^th-Century New Zealand Television. Media Culture Society. http://doi.org/10.1177/0163443704039709

week 12

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

Looking at RTV shows, we can see there is a large selection of shows that cater to different niches, these can be specific shows like; “Is it really dough”, with Scott Weiner, and Mark Icono, which follows two pizza nerds, eating and trying different styles of pizza, and deciding whether or not it can be considered a pizza. Because of hyper-specific shows like that, defining RTV can be difficult. Reality shows were intended to give the public a window into the lives of others, allowing for wider reception and audience interaction. The advent of greater hybridity, in my opinion, has added to the fanbase of the genre as the audience are able to have a greater choice in preference.

In my opinion, reality tv should be considered its own genre, as the shows that are labelled as RTV don’t fit in any other genre other than documentary. The shows have a semi-scripted format, where situations are fabricated and the people in the show merely react to whatever situation they are presented with. Shows like, “Survivor”, where contestants are landlocked on an island and are one-by-one voted off the show if they compete poorly to the challenges they are faced with. Game shows like this have the same appeal as gladiator fights, as the audience watches in amusement as contestants battle head to head, getting eliminated each time they fight. There is no category this would fit in other than reality tv.

When reality television first began with shows like MTV’s The Real World, where a bunch of young angsty 20-somethings would live in a house in close quarters, and the show would stem from the internal conflicts and relationships they develop from living in close proximity to one another. The fights tended to be over nothing, but the drama was riveting, this led to the advent of similar shows like; Big Brother and Love island, with more focus on romance and relationships.

Other genres of shows like; comedy, also have a high level of hybridity, as comedy can come from all sources, yet its validity as a genre is never doubted, only because it is one of the oldest genres. I believe reality television is already and should be considered to be its own genre as shows that are described ad “reality tv”, don’t really fit into other genres, due to it being highly unscripted and also at the same time scripted.

Week 12 – Reality TV

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

The beginnings of reality TV were rooted in a desire to convey real, ordinary life and eventually over time, developed to include a myriad of sub-categories within (Wood, 2004). Tv shows typically included in this category are the likes of news and public affairs programmes, talk shows, entertainment, documentaries, real world events, police or emergency worker drama, and quiz shows. Smith mentions that this development is what we can understand as reality TV cannibalising itself in order to survive (Smith, 2020). This means that reality tv is in a constant space of being reproduced, recreated and reimagined. It also hones in on the dilution of the genres authenticity as more remaking occurs. Because people can easily change the channel or switch off the TV, the entertainment factor of reality TV is a pillar to its success in longevity. So it is no wonder that new reality tv concepts are constantly being thrown at us. Wood points out that despite the ongoing reformation and reversioning of reality tv, that many people view reality tv as a genre in itself (2004). As a viewer, I don’t think we consider shows in regards to their sub-genres when picking a programme to watch. We see reality tv as an umbrella term, and associate it with the presence of ‘real people’ or ‘real life’, as opposed to the type of entertainment the show is providing (dance or singing competitions, house makeovers, cooking shows, dating shows, etc). Entertainment and what people are interested is constantly fluctuating, so to understand reality tv as an umbrella genre, leaves a space open for it to continue changing.

References

Smith, P. (2020). Reality TV (part one) Recorded lecture.

Smith, P. (2020). Reality TV (part two) Recorded lecture.

Wood, B. (2004). A world in retreat: the reconfiguration of hybridity in 20th-century New Zealand television. Media, Culture & Society.