By Ramy,
“Fear Factor”, “Bachelor”, “Wife Swap”, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” “American Idol “ Probably you are familiar with one or more of these shows, These shows were a great success when they were made for the first series, the second series, the third series , and they are just keep coming with new episodes of them as people still like them. These shows have something in common; they have no script written for the actors. Even the actors themselves are not those regular famous professional actors who we usually see in series and movies. These are the reality shows, ordinary people who are acting as “normal” as possible, there is no script to read, just reacting to situations as anyone would react normally. By definition reality show is an unscripted programs that don’t employ actors and focus on real events and situations. And that was the point about reality shows that made these shows that much success. People want to see ordinary people in normal situation living there live normally just as they way themselves would do.
Reality shows started as just armature people making hidden camera then turned into dating shows, drama shows, celebrities’ shows, lifestyle-change shows, and talents shows; anything normal in our everyday life is turning to be a new reality show. These shows mainly depend on human emotions: fear, anxiety, greed and a lust for success. The ability to see someone else’s private life is attracting more and more people, people want to see life of ordinary person who like someone else, cheat on his/her partner, how he/she is dealing with the family, friends, work, and the everyday life. A reality show could be a competition between some “ordinary” people to win a prize or cash and what they would do to win the competition, and there are editors and producers who are working hard to make a story timeline and add some drama to the show to make people want to see what would happen next. There could be in another reality show some celebrities maybe dancing, living their life normally, or are put in unordinary situations. Producers and editors would add some unmoral situations to add some more drama and create a story.
Reality shows are just like any other shows produced, they aren’t just made to amuse audience but to make profit.. Producers just prefer those reality shows; they don’t need to pay some celebrity to make a show just any ordinary people from different culture would do that job; no script is needed just act normally. But the hard thing about reality shows is making audience engage into it. People in the show could be from different cultures be competing for the prize but there will be those side line stories between couples likes each other, some break up, some are having problem with their family, ect. The reality show is made to become a part of people’s popular culture. Whenever the show becomes a part of pop culture of people’s life, the profit is more for the producers. Being a part of our popular culture that means we regularly watch the show, get engaged into it, if it’s a competition you could believe that someone deserves winning and you vote for him/her. You may feel good if he/she won, and feel sorry if he/she lost. You will sit with your family or friends watching the show with each of you engaged into one of that actor’s private life.
For me, these kinds of shows are just aiming for profit with least amount of spending. There is no real “art” in these shows; they are just mass production for mass consuming. They are just trying to make that reality shows a part of our pop culture by using actors who would tell us how to act normally and how to be social. Exposing the private life of some person to make all the audiences believe that this is how they should be. People would make these shows as a pop culture and act and try to make their life like those “normal” people in the show. People would support someone in the show who has the same attitude and believes like them. People who are making the show just want to engage you in to make money. This phenomenon could be studied to have a clearer and more specific idea about what attracts people in such shows, how they are turning to be a part of their popular culture. How they are affected by these shows.
Citation Page
Marshall , Vaughn A. “Why Reality Shows Are So Popular.” UBERSTAR. N.p., 9 Mar. 2010. Web. 18 Oct. 2011. <http://www.uberstartheblog.com/why-reality-shows-are-so-popular/>.
Rises, Steven, and Wiltez James. “Why America Loves Reality TV .” physchology today. N.p., 1 Sept. 2001. Web. 18 Oct. 2011. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200109/why-america-loves-reality-tv>.
Popular Culture 