How Real is Reality TV?

Essay # 100134

Communication > Television
Sociology > Media and Society

An analysis of the reality of reality television shows, with a focus on the show "Survivor".

2,011 words () | 9 sources | APA | 2007 Australia

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how real reality television shows are. It describes the general format for a reality television show and then specifically focuses on the show, "Survivor". The paper then looks at law suit claims against reality television shows such as "Survivor" and "Joe Millionaire" and their outcomes. The paper also presents examples, from "Survivor" and "Big Brother", of how the producers can assign a particular character to a role that they want the character to be portrayed as and discusses the effects of this on the overall validity of the program.

From the Paper:

"To a certain extent, reality television has always existed since the dawn of television's creation. When television first began, all broadcasts were done live (Altheide, 1976 : p74), whether they be presentations, community announcements or news reports - scripted events were by and large not a major contributor to the content that was broadcasted. Therefore, we can claim that reality television was never actually introduced to people but that it was always there in some form. However, a show like Survivor (which began in the year 2000) cannot be considered as being in the same league as a news report, or a live variety show (such as Rove Live). What makes a show like Survivor so different and appealing is the fact that the characters involved in all the drama are said to be real. Not actors with a detailed script and memorised lines (although when watching various episodes that point could be argued extensively). What allows television to appear as if reality is emanating from it, is its 'ability to render realistic audio and visual representations... and to do so in real time as events occur' (Friedman, 2002: p24). A reality television show such as Survivor tapped into these key concepts and added some of its own fragrance to spawn a whole new market for network channels. At the end of each episode, contestants cast secret ballots to expel 'losers'. In fact, sometimes the decision is made to explicitly exclude people who are a threat (i.e. they might be a contender to win the final prize), including those who are weak and lack what the 'tribe' feels is needed. Survival is dependent on making sure you look after your own interests, and working out a strategy to exclude others, in the form of alliances. It is in these key moments that the audience hears contestants confess the truth about another player in the game, and depending on the viewer's stance, they might feel they can relate to the person casting the vote or the person being voted against. This accompanied by various betrayals and manipulations brings forth a sort of basic humanity to the show which the complicated western civilisation may feel it lacks. In any case, it is always a sad (yet satisfying) moment when a contestant's fire is extinguished at the end of each episode. As the host constantly states, fire symbolises the contestant's life force during the game, therefore when it no longer exists their 'life' is no longer a part of the game. Utilising this basic understanding of the show, we can now begin to take it apart and discover various inconsistencies with how 'real' it actually is."

Sample of Sources Used:

Friedman, James (2002). 'Televisual Discourse on the Real', Ritgers University Press, New Brunswick - New Jersey - London.
Dunkley, Christopher (2002). 'Reality TV : How Real Is Real? - Essay 3: It's Not New And It's Not Clever', Hodder & Stoughton, Coventry
Altheide, David (1976). 'Creating Reality', Sage Publications, Beverly Hills - London
Weimann, Gabriel (2000). 'Communicating Unreality: Media and the Reconstruction of Reality', Sage Publications, Inc. Thousand Oaks - London - New Delhi.
Canoe, (20/10/03), 'Television Ratings', Available: http://www.canoe.ca/televisionratings/us.html, (20/10/03)