Reality TV

Reading Nick Couldry's article on reality TV ("Teaching Us To Be Fake") got me to thinking about the different reality shows I've subjected myself to- and in some cases, have been involuntarily subject to. These shows consisted of the following, not in any particular order, but a few that I'm sad to say kept my attention for more unexpected consecutive weeks than was necessary: The Real World/Road Rules (and all the subsequent "face/off" and challenge shows that threw them all into a situation of who's who of previous seasons), The Apprentice, America's Next Top Model, American Idol, and Laguna Beach/The Hills. Sadly, these are the shows that I know I watched more consistently than any others, and all throughout my viewing of these shows, I found myself constantly justifying my viewership to others (but perhaps more so to myself) because of the absolute absurdity and so-called "realness" of it all. Though I've always understood that reality TV is scripted or contrived in some way, I found myself not able to turn away from the screen whenever one of these programs came on, and then, soon, I found myself tuning in the following week or catching up on missed episodes on-line. I suppose in some ways, I watch it for what Couldry elaborates on in his article about reality TV being utilized to conduct experiments and obtain some understanding of human nature. Yet what I feel these reality TV shows do is do more than chronicle or capture human nature through these exceptional spaces and situations- negating the notion that the camera apparatus and lens function as a totally unbiased and naked eye- but they reflect on the historical, social and industrial context in which these shows are being conceptualized, produced and exhibited to audiences. Couldry talks about the power dynamic within this particular genre of TV, specifically referring to it as the "govermentality" shared both by performers and audiences, and then also of audiences watching these performers carry out certain regimes for their very entertainment on TV. His use of the word "govermentality" helped me to remember a more recent reality TV show called "Kid Nation," in which 40 kids (aged 8-15) were put on location called the "Bonanza Creek Move Ranch," with (little to) no adult supervision, as their challenge was to create and sustain a viable society. Though I didn't have the chance to watch any of it while it was still on the air, what I heard about it was that it echoed parts of William Golding's Lord of the Flies and also became more about consumer culture propaganda than social experimentation. When I first heard about the show, I thought how curiously genius and horribly cruel to recruit such young kids to parade around in a fake society, testing the waters for how far a reality show can push expectations as well as nerves. But then I got to thinking about shows like Laguna Beach, The Hills and whatever like shows exist of its nature; these shows are contrivances made to emulate the real and entertain the masses, period. But should there be a line that is drawn with age when casting for and creating reality TV? Perhaps there's a certain amount of reality exposure that a kid as young as 8 shouldn't be subject to, especially when put into a show like "Kid Nation" where they all run around like guinea pigs for the enjoyment of the nation. Then again, the same could be said for child actors- when is too early to enter into and be placed into the media; into fame and limelight? Can they handle the "media-celebrity" fame that Couldry talks about that's comparable to the twenty-something winner of Big Brother? Though, since the show didn't do as well as hoped on CBS, to my knowledge its been taken off the air and I've heard of no new controversy surrounding any of the kids involved in the show. I suppose media-celebrity is warranted only to those whose shows actually attracted consistent viewers. Yet it is interesting to take into account Couldry's discussion of the "media-self" in the context of Kid Nation. These kids essentially construct a mediated version of themselves (or perhaps fit into the prescribed roles that they are strategically cast for) at such an early age that brings into question the already-constructed identities that we have for ourselves and each other in society. How much of what we show and act to each other in real life, or to the world through the "reality" of media, is a reflection of our truest self?