Reality TV- what's so real about it?

[Nanobyte]

I do not understand what the significance(well not significance, as it is to entertain, but reality) of reality TV is. Survivor isn't built around survival, the players are given "rewards," and rushed to a hospital if they suffer a medical emergency. Compare that to someone stranded on an isolated island.

The Bachelor, is this reality TV or not? If it is, I find it hard to believe that a woman can "fall in love" with a man who is hardly charismatic, but extremely wealthy. It's sort of degrading to women if you ask me.

There are a few other shows I cannot really place my finger on, but what do you all think? Is it real, or just a media gimmick?

[ 10-16-2002, 09:03 PM: Message edited by: Nanobyte ]

[Sir Goulum]

Originally posted by Nanobyte: I do not understand what the significance(well not significance, as it is to entertain, but reality) of reality TV is. Survivor isn't built around survival, the players are given "rewards," and rushed to a hospital if they suffer a medical emergency. Compare that to someone stranded on an isolated island.

I agree...I find it hard to believe that with eating just rice for 36 days or however many it is, still look healthy and well fed. They also don't seem to be that dirty after each day, and the men never really grow beards.

[Angelousss]

absolutely nothing, supposedly it's the interaction but I'm fairly sure that they are coached in how to act. Also they do reshoots, use stunt doubles ect.
Real world is a good one(one of the few i think it actually can be entertaining) 7 good looking people between 18-24 in a million dollar apartment with all the latest amneties and given a chushie job.

[Sir Goulum]

What about Big Brother? Thats gotta be funny!

[True_Moose]

Hehehe...you expect reality TV to have anything to do with reality? The supposedly "real" part is that people can act like scum on camera, as well as in regular life.

[Sir Goulum]

Originally posted by True_Moose: Hehehe...you expect reality TV to have anything to do with reality? The supposedly "real" part is that people can act like scum on camera, as well as in regular life.

And the fact that some are men and some are woman!

[Nanobyte]

It's like us declaring it constitutional to rob a bank whenever we are short on cash

[johnny]

Originally posted by Sir Goulum: What about Big Brother? Thats gotta be funny!

It's not even close to being funny. And it's not real or spontaneous either, they have some kind of program of rules which they must follow plus the fact that they KNOW the camera is out there makes them behave real stupid, at least not like they would in real life. It's all a big fake.

[Sio]

I really cant stand to watch these kind of shows, very boring, very unimaginative and the contestands are all arrogant twats playing up to the camera for attention, is there anything good on tell nowadays! its getting worser and worser

[The Hierophant]

I think all of you guys have hit things pretty much straight on the mark.
As for Survivor, the very idea of having these people trying to 'outplay' each other is ludicrous. Eliminating one another is the LAST thing a group would want to do in a survival situation. Co-operation, teamwork and sticking together are the ONLY courses of action if one wants to survive in 'extreme' circumstances. I think the appeal and success of surivivor essentially rests upon viewers watching the city-based, corporate, consumer ideals of competition and 'survival of the fittest' being translated (cheesily and innaccurately) into a primative, primal setting. I remember an episode of 'Survivor:Africa' that I saw where (by the looks on their faces) the local tribal people thought that these wierdo Americans were nuts, mainly because they were acting in such a stupid and foolish fashion in terms of surviving/living in the African environment.
But I digress. If you want 'reality', go out and interact with REAL people, because you won't find the satisfaction of the 'real world' in a synthetic, artificial TV show.